In the wake of the economic crisis that caught the world unprepared in 2008, the state has seen a remarkable comeback. After an age of neoliberalism, in which the cutting back of state activity was the mantra, it was the state that was turned to when banks and markets failed. Governments all over the world developed rescue and stimulus packages and even nationalized significant parts of the financial sectors. The state has regained political and economic power and is using it. But what exactly is the state and what can and should it do? Where is the line between what the market can, and what the state needs, to provide? What can and should civil society expect from the state? Erhard Eppler answers these vital questions, drawing on historical and political examples from all over the world.