State capacity

State capacity is the ability of a government to accomplish policy goals, either generally or in reference to specific aims.[1][2][3][4][5] More narrowly, state capacity often refers to the ability of a state to collect taxes, enforce law and order, and provide public goods.[6]

A state that lacks capacity is defined as a fragile state or, in a more extreme case, a failed state.[7][8] Higher state capacity has been strongly linked to long-term economic development, as state capacity can establish law and order, private property rights, and external defense, as well as support development by establishing a competitive market, transportation infrastructure, and mass education.[2][9] State capacity can be measured by Government effectiveness index and government competitiveness and relates to political efficacy.

  1. ^ Dincecco, Mark (2017). State Capacity and Economic Development: Present and Past. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1, 15–24. ISBN 978-1-108-33755-7.
  2. ^ a b Dincecco, Mark; Wang, Yuhua (2023). "State Capacity". The Oxford Handbook of Historical Political Economy. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197618608.013.13. SSRN 4022645.
  3. ^ Akbar, Nafisa; Ostermann, Susan L. (2015). "Understanding, Defining, and Measuring State Capacity in India: Traditional, Modern, and Everything in Between An Asian Survey Special Issue on India". Asian Survey. 55 (5): 845–861. doi:10.1525/as.2015.55.5.845. ISSN 0004-4687. JSTOR 26364315.
  4. ^ Brambor, Thomas; Goenaga, Agustín; Lindvall, Johannes; Teorell, Jan (2020). "The Lay of the Land: Information Capacity and the Modern State". Comparative Political Studies. 53 (2): 175–213. doi:10.1177/0010414019843432. ISSN 0010-4140. S2CID 133292367.
  5. ^ Williams, Martin J. (2021). "Beyond state capacity: bureaucratic performance, policy implementation and reform". Journal of Institutional Economics. 17 (2): 339–357. doi:10.1017/S1744137420000478. ISSN 1744-1374.
  6. ^ Suryanarayan, Pavithra (2024). "Endogenous State Capacity". Annual Review of Political Science. 27 (1). doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-061621-084709. ISSN 1094-2939.
  7. ^ "State Capacity, Conflict, and Development" (PDF). Econometrica. 78 (1): 1–34. 2010. doi:10.3982/ECTA8073. S2CID 2887246.
  8. ^ Hameiri, Shahar (2007). "Failed states or a failed paradigm? State capacity and the limits of institutionalism". Journal of International Relations and Development. 10 (2): 122–149. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jird.1800120. S2CID 143220503.
  9. ^ Dincecco, Mark (2022-05-02). "State Capacity in Historical Political Economy: What, How, Why, and Why Not?". Broadstreet. Retrieved 2022-05-02.