THE DEVELOPMENTAL STATE IN LIGHT OF THE LATEST CHANGES: TOWARDS A NEW DEVELOPMENT APPROACH

In the light of the recent changes of the twenty-first century, our societies on the one hand, and both the world economy and the economy as a social science on the other, face important challenges, which call for model changes, perhaps even new models. First, in the aftermath of the global financial and economic crisis of 2008-9, and most recently because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we can observe various types of active State interventions and increased State involvement to revive economic growth and development throughout the world. This has led to renewed interest in the analysis of the role of the State in economic development in general, and to the renaissance of the States developmental approach and the theories of the development system in particular. This article aims to critically review and synthesize the latest literature on States and development systems. Based on the theoretical and practical experiences of development States over more than half a century, and taking into account the recent changes of the twenty-first century, we share critically with the relevant literature and aim at weaving a new account of the complex issues of the role of the State in development today. While we argue that the new model of a development State has not yet been penetrated in the literature, we offer some pillars around which consensus seems to have emerged.