Problematizing state capacity: the Rwandan case

Abstract

We argue that the effectiveness of Rwandan governments, both at implementing the 1994 genocide and inducing the current growth miracle, illustrates that the state has high capacity. Yet this capacity is not captured by conventional Weberian concepts, with their focus on taxation and formal bureaucracy. Rather, the capacity of Rwanda's state relies on its ability to leverage dense social networks which connect it to society. The origins of these networks lie in the construction of the historical state which expanded by merging with local lineages and kinship groups. Using data on the historical expansion of the Rwandan state as a proxy for the strength of state–society social networks we show they are uncorrelated with measures of Weberian state capacity. In a fieldwork exercise, we show that rule compliance today is positively correlated with our proxy, but uncorrelated with Weberian state capacity.

The origins of fiscal states in developing economies: history, politics and institutions

“…Two papers look at the role of historical origins of fiscal states in sub-Saharan Africa. Heldring and Robinson (2023) look at the historical conditions that may have prevented the rise of fiscal states, using Rwanda as a case-study. Heldring and Robinson argue that local political institutions predating the establishment of African states were based on a social contract that did not allow the emergence of centralised tax systems, because they were never designed to support taxation.…”

Tax Aversion and the Social Contract in Africa

“…Recent evidence, for example, Rasul and Rogger (2018) and McDonnell (2020), shows that African states do have capacity in some dimensions or spheres, if not necessarily in tax collection. Heldring and Robinson (2023) argue that these are examples of a much more pervasive source of 'state capacity' which rests in the non-western ways in which African states relate to their societies. Scholars of state capacity tend to associate it with 'Weberianness' and features such as the meritocratic recruitment and promotion of civil servants (e.g.…”