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Title: Divided it falls Lessons on state capacity development from American state legislatures 1840-1910
Citation Type: Working Paper
Publication Year: 2020
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Abstract: Previous research on state capacity has largely focused on external and internal elite competition. This paper describes a complementary explanation for differences in state capacity. I argue investments in state capacity entails a commitment problem. To build state capacity, legislators must form and maintain investment coalitions, but these are vulnerable to defections, which can undermine the investments. When legislators defect from investments, state capacity development is held back. I evaluate the theory in the setting of 19th century American state legislatures. Using new data on the curious practice of passing special legislation, I show that when legislators defected, state capacity development suffered. The research further indicates that the ability of legislatures to facilitate state capacity depends on rules and practices governing the behavior and ability of legislators to defect from their commitments.
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Authors: Olander, Petrus
Series Title: STANCE Working Paper Series
Publication Number: 3
Institution: Lund University
Pages: 1-63
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Other
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