Governance as political theory

Political science has had a continuing debate over the need for, and existence of, a paradigm for the discipline. This paper examines the potential utility of governance as an organizing framework for political science, and especially comparative politics. While there are a number of questions about this approach there are also a number of positive contributions that governance can make to political science. In particular, it returns the fundamental question of governing to the center of the discipline that has become dominated by approaches emphasizing individual behavior.