IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/compsc/v25y2008i4p285-296.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Pathways to State Failure

Author

Listed:
  • Jack A. Goldstone

    (School of Public Policy George Mason University Arlington, Virginia, USA, jgoldsto@gmu.edu)

Abstract

Attempts to forecast or remedy state failure would benefit from a clearer view of the multiple pathways that can lead states to fail. This paper delineates five pathways: escalating ethnic conflicts, state predation, regional guerrilla rebellion, democratic collapse, and succession/reform crises in authoritarian states. Each of these five pathways involves changes in the legitimacy and effectiveness of regimes; state failures follow upon the loss of both legitimacy and effectiveness. Examples are provided and guidelines are offered for efforts to avert failure in fragile states.

Suggested Citation

  • Jack A. Goldstone, 2008. "Pathways to State Failure," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 25(4), pages 285-296, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:25:y:2008:i:4:p:285-296
    DOI: 10.1080/07388940802397343
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1080/07388940802397343
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/07388940802397343?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Greif,Avner, 2006. "Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521480444, January.
    2. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. David Carment & Mark Haichin & Peter Tikuisis, 2017. "Backsliding and reversal: The J-Curve revisited," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-170, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Tilman Brück & Patricia Justino & Charles Patrick MartinShields, 2017. "Conflict and development: Recent research advances and future agendas," WIDER Working Paper Series 178, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    3. Yijian Liu & Chaoqun Zhou & Lin Li & Liang Su & Yuanbiao Zhang, 2018. "Fragile States Metric System: An Assessment Model Considering Climate Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-29, May.
    4. Justin Logan & Christopher Preble, 2011. "Fixing Failed States: A Dissenting View," Chapters, in: Christopher J. Coyne & Rachel L. Mathers (ed.), The Handbook on the Political Economy of War, chapter 19, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Rachael Calleja & David Carment & Mark Haichin & Peter Tikuisis, 2017. "Backsliding and reversal: The J-Curve revisited," WIDER Working Paper Series 170, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Tilman Brück & Patricia Justino & Charles Patrick Martin-Shields, 2017. "Conflict and development: Recent research advances and future agendas," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-178, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    7. Martin-Shields, Charles, 2017. "State fragility as a cause of forced displacement: identifying theoretical channels for empirical research," IDOS Discussion Papers 30/2017, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fenske, James, 2014. "Trees, tenure and conflict: Rubber in colonial Benin," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 226-238.
    2. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2016. "Long-Term Persistence," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 14(6), pages 1401-1436, December.
    3. van Zanden, Jan Luiten & Buringh, Eltjo & Bosker, Maarten, 2008. "From Baghdad to London: The Dynamics of Urban Growth in Europe and the Arab World, 800-1800," CEPR Discussion Papers 6833, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Daron Acemoglu & Davide Cantoni & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2011. "The Consequences of Radical Reform: The French Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3286-3307, December.
    5. Karl Robert L. Jandoc, 2011. "La Liga Filipina: Rizal and institutional change," Philippine Review of Economics, University of the Philippines School of Economics and Philippine Economic Society, vol. 48(2), pages 151-182, December.
    6. Alesina, Alberto & Giuliano, Paola, 2014. "Family Ties," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 177-215, Elsevier.
    7. Kogure, Katsuo, 2013. "Impacts of Institutional Changes in Cambodia under the Pol Pot Regime," CEI Working Paper Series 2012-13, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    8. Drelichman, Mauricio, 2009. "License to till: The privileges of the Spanish Mesta as a case of second-best institutions," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 220-240, April.
    9. Cecchi, Francesco & Melesse, Mequanint Biset, 2016. "Formal law and customary change: A lab-in-field experiment in Ethiopia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 67-85.
    10. der Beek, Karine van, 2010. "The effects of political fragmentation on investments: A case study of watermill construction in medieval Ponthieu, France," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 369-380, October.
    11. Maseland, Robbert, 2021. "Contingent determinants," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    12. Clark, Gregory, 2014. "The Industrial Revolution," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 217-262, Elsevier.
    13. Bluhm, Richard & Crombrugghe, Denis de & Szirmai, Adam, 2012. "Explaining the dynamics of stagnation: An empirical examination of the North, Wallis and Weingast approach," MERIT Working Papers 2012-040, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    14. Wilfred Dolfsma, 2013. "Government Failure," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15372.
    15. Davis, Lewis S. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2016. "Culture and the regulation of entry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1055-1083.
    16. Baland, Jean-Marie & Moene, Karl Ove & Robinson, James A., 2010. "Governance and Development," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Dani Rodrik & Mark Rosenzweig (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 4597-4656, Elsevier.
    17. Victor Nee & Sonja Opper, 2009. "Bureaucracy and Financial Markets," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(2), pages 293-315, April.
    18. Lattanzio, Gabriele, 2022. "Beyond religion and culture: The economic consequences of the institutionalization of sharia law," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    19. Elisa Borghi & Donato Masciandaro, 2023. "Political Elites, Urban Institutions And Long-Run Persistence : The King Owned Towns," BAFFI CAREFIN Working Papers 23193, BAFFI CAREFIN, Centre for Applied Research on International Markets Banking Finance and Regulation, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy.
    20. Alvarez-Diaz, Marcos & Caballero Miguez, Gonzalo, 2008. "The quality of institutions: A genetic programming approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 161-169, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:25:y:2008:i:4:p:285-296. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.