In a global age, the way people engage with each other politically is increasingly managed through state institutions that seek to ensure the welfare and well-being of citizens. This means that the bureaucratic management of ’the good life’ in terms of both collective and individual needs has become central to the role of democratic politics and good governance on a global scale.

This development calls for a comparative study of the global spread of institutional ideas and bureaucratic practices of democracy and welfare.

Researchers involved in this theme explore the following topics:

• Pedagogy and education
• Institutional childrearing
• Youth and marginalisation
• State structures and organizations
• Family law
• Elections and corruption.

The Section is host within this theme to the English language M.A. degree ’Global Studies and Development.’