Includes bibliographical references.

Globalization 2.0 and the challenges to good governance -- America's consumer democracy versus China's modern mandarinate -- Liberal democratic constitutionalism and meritocracy : hybrid possibilities -- The new challenges for governance : social networks, megacities, and the global scattering of productive capabilities -- Intelligent governance : tenets and template -- Rebooting California's dysfunctional democracy -- The G-20 : global governance from summits to subnational networks -- Europe : political union and the democratic deficit -- Survival of the wisest.

For decades, liberal democracy has been extolled as the best system of governance to have emerged out of the long experience of history. Today, such a confident assertion is far from self-evident. Democracy, in crisis across the West, must prove itself. This highly timely volume is both a conceptual and practical guide of impressive scope to the challenges of good governance as the world continues to undergo profound transformation in the coming decades.