Let us take the intervening variables seriously

It is worth beginning here by restating one of Held etal.’s conclusions with which we are sure Hirst and Thompson, Weiss and Hay would concur. External economic pressures (whether ‘global’, ‘international’ or ‘regional’) are

mediated significantly by state’s position in global political, military and economic hierarchies; its domestic economic and political structures; the institutional pattern of domestic politics; and specific government as well as societal strategies for contesting, managing or ameliorating globalizing imperatives.

It is difficult to take issue with this view, partly because it takes a scattergun approach evoking such a wide variety of variables. Certainly, it is a view that needs unpacking. Perhaps the best way to do so is to treat each of its elements separately.

(a)