The case of the missing scales: a commentary on Cox

In this commentary, I argue that in his paper, 'Spaces of Dependence, Spaces of Engagement and the Politics of Scale.. ', Kevin Cox overestimates the ability of political agents to overcome a 'politics of dependence' through the social construction of a politics of engagement. By examining two 'missing scales' in U.S. politics-nationally administered policy, and regional governance-I attempt to show that either when the state constructs scale-or fails to construct it-political agents often find it difficult to overcome the consequences by constructing their own scales of engagement. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.