While analyses of the State have told us much about the trends of the crisis it is undergoing, they have been silent on the reasons why certain states manage to survive these trends while others appear to be headed for decomposition. The goal of this article is to provide some elements of an answer to this question through an analysis of the reorganization processes and forms of European states over the last few decades. The comparative analysis proposed here attempts to tease out common lines of force while bearing in mind the diversity of research trajectories aimed at better articulating the approach of political regulations and social regulations.