The book starts from the premise that the proliferation of communication technologies - fibre optic cables, satellites and computers is part of a revolution in the nature of control. It is a revolution whose outlines are only just becoming visible, and whose effects will be far-reaching. It is a revolution that poses new choices about how control is to be organized, choices between rigid and hierarchical approaches, and more flexible, devolved approaches. By delineating these types of control, Mulgan points out some of the key political and economic choices which must be confronted in the 1990s.