‘Governance’ and ‘exclusion’ are two buzz words of the 1990s. This short article describes some paradigms – i.e. ideal forms – of social exclusion and of governance of the economy, and presents a framework for analysing the types of policy actually found in the real world. It has two purposes. The first is to stress that governance takes a variety of forms, each one of which has its strengths and weaknesses in meeting the objectives of the economy and society. The second is to conduct a cursory exploration into the types of exclusion associated with different kinds of governance, and to comment on the implications for economic policy when the forms do not correspond to the wishes of society. What follows is not designed to promote a particular strategy, but to provide a structure within which any policy can be better understood, and therefore more effectively promoted or opposed, depending on the reader's own objectives.