Papers in this issue include: Interpreting Africa’s crisis: Political science versus political economy. Evolving economic policies and dis-involving states: Notes in an African context. Alternatives in the restructuring of state-society relations: Research issues for tropical Africa. The state in retreat? Why has India experienced such half-hearted ‘Liberalization’ in the 1980s? Tried, then abandoned: Economic liberalization in India. The Leninist state under threat? The politics of economic reform in China. The Algerian constitution and the restructuring of state-capitalism.