1. Making States Work: From State Failure to State-Building
- Author:
- Michael Ignatieff, Ramesh Thakur, and Simon Chesterman
- Publication Date:
- 07-2004
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- International Peace Institute
- Abstract:
- It is frequently assumed that the collapse of state structures, whether through defeat by an external power or as a result of internal chaos, leads to a vacuum of political power. This is rarely the case. The mechanisms through which political power are exercised may be less formalized or consistent, but basic questions of how best to ensure the physical and economic security of oneself and one's dependants do not simply disappear when the institutions of the state break down. Non-state actors in such situations may exercise varying degrees of political power over local populations, at times providing basic social services from education to medical care. Even where non-state actors exist as parasites on local populations, political life goes on.
- Topic:
- International Relations, Development, Economics, and Peace Studies