Subnational Resistance and the Uneven Geography of State Capacity

• In Event: Political Organizations and Parties & Political Networks & American Political Thought & Education Politics and Policy Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual Poster Session: Congressional Committees and the Distribution of Federal Education Funding Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

Why do states in the developing world often have an uneven capacity to enact policy in their territory? I argue that the level of national state presence in a given region is the result of the political resources that subnational elites have to resist the advancement of central-state institutions. Specifically, these resources are: (a) whether the subnational elites manage to unite in a common front, around a strongman or a local party, and (b) whether they count with independent bases of popular support. My theory derives from the study of Mexico’s post-revolutionary years, particularly, the expansion of national primary education. I analyze four paradigmatic cases representing different scenarios of subnational resistance to state-building and test my theory against alternative explanations.

Author

• Manuel Cabal, University of Chicago