The Concept, Causes and Consequences of Failed States: A Critical Review of the Literature and Agenda for Research with Specific Reference to Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This article provides a critical review of recent literature that has attempted to define what a 'failed state' is and explains why such states emerge. It is argued that aggregate indices of 'failure' are misleading due to the wide variations of capacity across state functions within a polity. The focus on ranking states also distracts attention away from analyses concerning the dynamics of state capacity. Moreover, many of the definitions either compare reality to a Weberian ideal, or assume that violence is 'development in reverse', both of which are ahistorical and unhelpful as a guide to policy. The second part of the article assesses the contributions of functionalist, 'new war' and neo-Tillean approaches to explain state failure. The article finds that while these theories take concrete historical situations seriously, they have important theoretical and empirical shortcomings. Finally, the conclusion outlines an agenda for further research.Cet article offre un examen critique de la litte´rature re´cente cherchant a`de´finir ce qu'est un É tat de´faillant, ainsi que les raisons donnant lieu a`leur e´mergence. Il conside`re que les indicateurs agre´ge´s permettant d'e´tablir qu'un É tat est de´faillant sont tous trompeurs en raison de la grande variation qui peut exister au sein d'un meˆme É tat quant a`sa capacite´a`assurer ses diffe´rentes fonctions. Il est souligne´que les classements de´tournent l'attention des analyses portant sur la dynamique variable de la capacite´des É tats. Plusieurs approchent comparent, de plus, la re´alite´avec un ide´al weberien, ou bien supposent que la violence est une forme de de´veloppement ) a`l'envers *, ce qui constitue une pre´supposition anhistorique et inutile du point de vue de l'aide a`la de´cision. La deuxie`me partie de l'article se penche en particulier sur les contributions fonctionnalistes, du paradigme des ) nouvelles guerres *, ainsi que des approches base´es sur les the´ories de Charles Tilly. Bien que prenant en compte les re´alite´s historiques, ces diffe´rentes approches ont toutes des points faibles, tant the´oriques qu'empiriques, et la conclusion de l'article se base sur ces derniers afin d'e´laborer un agenda de recherche futur a`propos des É tats de´faillants.

Evaluating State Performance: A Critical View of State Failure and Fragility Indexes

“…Many important weaknesses of current PSPs will not be dealt with here, not only because they are not 'necessary' (see below), but also because they have been treated thoroughly elsewhere. For example, there is a plethora of definitions of PSP that are rarely explicit about theoretical underpinnings (Di John, 2010), and tend to be unaware of the minimal requirements that a well-performing classificatory tool should have. Indeed, following a careful evaluation, Cammack et al (2006, p. 16) come to the conclusion that both researchers and policymakers in the PSP field tend to count with labels, rather than well-defined PSP concepts, 'insofar as "Fragile states" is a label currently in use by the international community to identify a particular class of states.…”

“…Further complicating the matter, donor definitions appear to fall into three general but overlapping types: 'where fragility is defined in terms of the functionality of states, of their outputs (including insecurity), or of their relationship with donors'. This dispersion coexists with several forms of hodge-podge categorization (King and Langche, 2001;Cammack et al, 2006;Di John, 2010). Several indexes, furthermore, contain rather obvious biases, and some complex technical issues are dealt with expeditiously.…”

Between Control and Cooperation: Multi-Stakeholder Service Provision and the Legitimacy of State Institutions in Ethiopia’s Amhara National Regional State

“…The state consists of different organizations representing different interests and positions. Seeking to contribute to a constructive and disaggregated analysis of state conduct and capacity in Africa (Boaz and Jennings, 2005;Di John, 2009), we break down 'the state' into 'state institutions', namely, individual organizations that make up the state (ranging from ministries to technical services). Two distinctions help categorize the multitude of state institutions making up a state: first, the hierarchy of state institutions: we differentiate between national (in Ethiopia federal) and local (in Ethiopia regional and below) state institutions; and second, the nature of state institutions: we distinguish between 'general' state institutions involved in generic administrative and governance tasks (for instance, district administrations) and 'specialized' state institutions concerned specifically with services (such as district bureaus).…”

In It for the Long Haul? Post‐conflict Statebuilding, Peacebuilding, and the Good Governance Agenda in Timor‐leste

“…It has been questioned as an adequate historical account of Western development (Grindle, ). GG's association with neoliberalism‐derived agendas and related liberal peacebuilding models sees claims it serves to force a self‐serving ‘Western’ universalism on developing countries, with instability and conflict undermining corporate interests and global markets (Boege et al, ; Di John, ).…”