This chapter sets up an analytical framework on governance to explore the key theme by observing how the core executive has adapted to change and how the regulatory state has developed. It first considers the concept of the core executive as key to explaining the system of governance and analysing the transformation of the Japanese state. The chapter then focuses on the concept of the regulatory state and governance, aiming to analyse the relationship between the state and society. The following two sections pay specific attention to regulatory development in the UK and New Zealand as examples of the regulatory state under different political traditions. The final section pulls the elements of this chapter together, heeding the political tradition of Japan and beyond.