Although the financial crisis has questioned the omnipotence of markets and deregulation policies, citizens remain skeptical of the state, watching in astonishment as various European governments and the US Congress advocate for "smaller government". The authors of this book reject the neoliberal choice of "smaller government" and propose a "different state".

Globalization and the information revolution compel us to reaffirm our faith in state power, but in a reinvented form. We must strive for a state that invests in development and innovation; a state that protects its citizens as the world becomes increasingly uncertain; an uncompromising state. These are the main lines of the new social democratic agreement proposed by the authors of this book.