Political Insecurity and State Failure in Contemporary Africa
View/ Open
Author
Published Version
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid/publicationsMetadata
Show full item recordCitation
Bates, Robert H. “Political Insecurity and State Failure in Contemporary Africa.” CID Working Paper Series 2005.115, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, January 2005.Abstract
Noting data that suggests that Africa oversupplies state failure, the paper probes the sources of political insecurity in the continent. It explores the logic that underlies an equilibrium in which governments employ force to protect rather than to predate and in which citizens engage in productive activity and refrain from military activity. It isolates the variables that define the region in which this conduct is in equilibrium values that lie outside that region define the conditions under which states fail. The analysis illuminates the impact of political and economic forces in contemporary Africa: political reform, economic collapse, and the increased relative importance of “loot-able” resources. In an effort to evaluate the arguments of the paper, it provides as well a series of statistical tests of its arguments.Terms of Use
This article is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of-use#LAACitable link to this page
http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42482324
Collections
Contact administrator regarding this item (to report mistakes or request changes)