The Power of Ideational Reach: A New Approach to State Capacity

Abstract

State capacity is widely recognized as a prerequisite for the successful fostering of economic and political development and is considered key to understanding change and enduring differences in development across countries. Yet, despite its influence, there are several aspects of the exercise of state power that are still in need of explanation. Such aspects typically relate to unexpected variation in outcomes within and/or across polities and policies. To better understand these outcomes, this paper argues that we must recognize the ways in which the modern state is not only a physical and organizational entity but also a politically constructed—and highly contested— idea of how political order should be organized. Against this backdrop, the paper introduces a new dimension of state capacity: ideational reach—defined as the ability to engender loyalty to the idea of the state as the primary source of authority among the population.