castells has done a whole lot of work on the "developmental state" and discussed and analyzed it extensively in "technopoles of the world." in his "information age" (1998, p. 270)he defines it as a state that "establishes as its principle of legitimacy its ability to promote and sustain development" and in a 1991 article (don't have the name) "A State is developmental when it establishes as its principle of legitimacy its ability to promote and sustain development, understanding by development the combination of steady high rates of economic growth and structural change in the productive system, both domestically and in its relationship to the international economy"
it could also be argued that the massive amount of USG's economic intervention in the form of military spending, probably the federal government's primary regional development tool, has made the US the world's largest developmental state.
alex