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State building is a term used in state theory. It describes the construction of a functioning state. This concept was first used in connection to the creation of states in Western Europe and focused on the power enforcement of state in society (Tilly 1975).

Theoretical studies on state building generally focus on how institutions of a given state enforce their power in an environment of instability. States with weak state structures generally confront the question of state building, as do states undergoing fundamental structural changes or states in the process of collapse. State building under these conditions signifies the institutionalization and re-construction of state structures, for example in the states of the former Soviet Union or former Yugoslavia.

The process of state building entails institutionalizing central state power in terms of government, parliament, independent judges, and jurisdiction (including police, tax administration, basic social security structures etc.). It further comprises the integration of peripheral regions in central state structures and the inclusion of parallel power structures. It also generally signifies turning informal structures into formal structures.

Tilly (1975: 70f.) describes the advantages of state building as follows:

„State building provided for the emergence of specialized personnel, control over consolidated territory, loyalty, and durability, permanent institutions with a centralized and autonomous state that held the monopoly of violence over a given population“.

State of research
Older literature on state building focuses on the degree of state control necessary to regulate the relations between state and society. Examples are the works of Charles Tilly, Theda Skopcol, Gabriel Almond, Joel Midgal and Stephen Krasner. They highlight the relations between state and society actors, but also analyze institutional aspects of the state-society interactions.

More recently, state building has been interpreted as “the building of a state” In other words to reduce the weak capacities of a state. It further implies a reduction of scope and to enhance the strength of a state. State building is the creation of new government institutions and the strengthening of existing ones (Fukuyama 2004a).

State building can only succeed if a state has enough state power and authority. Institutional change and the build-up of a functioning state also require clarity on the essential components of a state. Thus, state building does also imply defining minimal state functions and capacities (World Bank 1997). Therewith are laid down the basic components for a capable and efficient state. An impeding factor is the fact that state building does mostly occur in an insecure environment in that old rules do no longer apply.

Authors who operate with the concept of state building don’t provide a standardized catalogue of factors impeding or enhancing state capacities. They rather refer to classical theorists on the state and the functional aspects of state building (e.g. Tilly 1975). Components of state building vary according to author: Kuzio et al. (1999) stress the influence of elites and institutions, Fukuyama (2004) stresses institutions, while Migdal (2001) concentrates on elites and civil society.

How to analyze state structures within the concept of state building
Students can apply the concept of state building for the analysis of state structures: In general, legitimacy and power of a given state are analyzed first. In addition, one can analyze the quality of a state and of its state capacities in different areas (e.g. finance, social security). Institutions play a decisive role in enforcing the power of a state. The generation and the change of institutions are also important topics of state building.

Generally, the following components are necessary to create a functioning, capable state: formal institutions to enforce state power, informal rules and networks (which form an essential part of formal institutions), state elites that identify with the state and use their power for the well-being of society, and a society that is involved in state decisions.

Literature

 * Almond, Gabriel: The Return to the State in: American Political Science Review, Vol. 82, No. 3, 853–874, 1988.
 * Fukuyama, Francis: State Building. Governance and World Order in the Twenty-First Century, Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2004a, ISBN 0-8014-4292-3
 * Fukuyma, Francis: The Imperative of State-Building, in: Journal of Democracy, Vol. 15, No. 2, 17–31, 2004b.
 * Kjær, Anne M./Hansen, Ole H./Frølund Thomsen, Jens Peter: Conceptualizing State Capacity, Working Paper, March, Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, 2002.
 * Krasner, Stephen D.: Approaches to the State: Alternative Conceptions and Historical Dynamics, in: Comparative Politics, Vol. 16, No.2, 223–246, 1984.
 * Kuzio, Taras/Kravchuk, Robert S./D’Anieri, Paul (eds.): State and Institution Building in Ukraine, London: Routledge, 1998, ISBN 0-415-17195-4.
 * Migdal, Joel S.: State in Society. Studying how States and Societies Transform and Constitute one another, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
 * Skopcol, Theda: Bringing the State Back In, in: Social Science Research Items, Vol. 36, June, 1–8, 1982.
 * Tilly, Charles: Coercion, Capital, and European States, AD 900–1990, Malden: Blackwell, 2000, ISBN 1-55786-067-X.
 * Tilly, Charles (ed.): Western-State Making and Theories of Political Transformation, in: The Formation of National States in Western Europe, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975.
 * World Bank : World Development Report 1997: The State in a Changing World, Washington, DC: World Bank, 1997