Schuppert's State. How Should the Change of a Conceptual Idea Be Perceived?

The article starts off with Schuppert's criticism on the use of metaphors regarding "statehood" and "the golden age" of the nation-state. The authors explain the advantages of the use of these metaphors against the use of abstract terminology such as "network" and "governance". Then they attack a central concept on the meaning of transnationalization and whether political rule in that context has an independent meaning. Following to a large extent Schuppert's conception that "change" is characterized partly by increasing "co-production of statehood". Finally, they ask the question what Schuppert's "state of guarantee" actually guarantees. In conclusion is said that not decay or fall, but a fundamental transformation of the structural design of statehood characterizes the golden age of statehood. Photograph, References. O. van Zijl