Explores the role that the State can play in relation to new social challenges. Includes discussions of community participation in development, the role of social and cultural capital in the development process and approaches to efficient social management. Suggests a move away from an omnipotent or minimal State towards a more integral one. Highlights the role the State can play in overcoming inequities and analyses the specific case of Latin America.

Programa agua, medio ambiente y sociedad (PAMAS).

COMUNIICA online is the technical journal of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). It is published quarterly in Spanish and English; all articles include an abstract in English or Spanish, and in Portuguese and French.