Dis-organizing violence: On the ends of the state, stationary bandits and the time horizon
The author collected a dataset on 380 stateless population settlements in the Eastern Congo
Abstract
A dominant view across disciplines defines states as a monopoly of violence and argues that states are a developed form of successful organized crime. However, this view ignores the importance of the time horizon of the monopolies of violence, and lies on weak empirical bases.
The findings support the view that the origins and workings of states can indeed be obtained from criminal monopolies of violence, only if the time horizon is long enough to provide them with the incentives to do so.
This research was funded under the Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) Programme
Citation
Sanchez de la Sierra, R. Dis-organizing violence: On the ends of the state, stationary bandits and the time horizon. (2015)
Links
Dis-organizing violence: On the ends of the state, stationary bandits and the time horizon