How States Build Fiscal Capacity: Opening the Warfare Model

• In Event: Comparative-Historical Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Comparative-Historical Roundtable 6

Abstract

This article revisits bellicist theories of state formation by arguing that war is a particular—though not exclusive—source of intense fiscal pressure. It shows that other fiscal crises can also generate critical junctures leading to durable increases in state fiscal capacity. Using Brazil as a case study, the article demonstrates how crises rooted in international trade shocks and state-led industrialization strengthened fiscal capacity in the absence of large-scale warfare. The findings highlight the importance of context in conditioning whether fiscal pressures translate into state strengthening and broaden bellicist theory toward a crisis-based, context-sensitive account of fiscal capacity building.

Author

• Rodrigo Cantu, Universidade Federal de Pelotas