convergence

Williams
is simply the prize of politics. In these circumstances, politics becomes a zero-sum game and
the distribution of the spoils is heavily skewed in the favor of the group, tribe, clan, ethnic, or
sectarian faction in power.
Even where “governance” is not a zero-sum game, however, the weaknesses of the state
are often debilitating. These weaknesses can be understood in terms of capacity gaps and
functional holes. Gaps in state capacity lead to an inability to carry out the “normal” and
“expected” functions of the modern Westphalian state and to make adequate levels of public
goods or collective provision for large parts of the citizenry. In Latin America, this has resulted
in what Gabriel Marcella described as “inadequate public security forces, dysfunctional judicial
systems, inadequate jails which become training schools for criminals, and deficiencies in other
dimensions of state structure such as maintenance of infrastructure.” 63 Indeed, Marcella goes
on to argue that “at the turn of the 21 st century, Latin American countries have essentially
two states within their boundaries: the formal and the informal. They are separate entities
often walled off from each other, though they interact with the informal state supporting the
other.” 64 Similar observations have been made by Rapley, who has argued not only that the
state “lacks the largesse needed to buy the loyalty of an ever-increasing number of players,”
but also that other informal forms and structures of governance move in to replace the state. 65
“Where the State can no longer provide employment, build houses, pave roads or police the
streets, or where the police are so woefully underpaid that they supplement their incomes from
corruption, sometimes turning on the very citizens they are meant to protect, in such cases,
private armies and mini-states might fill the vacuum left behind by a retreating state.” 66 In this
connection, it is worth emphasizing that one reason for the resurgence of Sendero Luminoso
in Peru has been that in most respects, the state does not exist outside Lima. Other states too
have leaders who hold the office of president or prime minister but are really little more than
the mayor of the capital city. Indeed, in many countries in the developing world, the state has
failed to expand its remit far beyond the capital in terms of either extraction or provision for
the citizens. Such limitations put both the authority and legitimacy of the state into question.
Even where governments have long been viable and effective and have enjoyed a high level
of legitimacy, the state often appears to be in retreat. As reducing public debt becomes the first
priority of governments, provision for social welfare and social safety nets is contracting. The
welfare state was really limited to a small subset of countries and was fully embraced only in
Western (and especially Northern) Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and even
some of these states are backing away from the levels of support they provided in the last several
decades. In some instances such as Greece and Great Britain, the retrenchment process
has provoked mob violence. For its part, the United States, having gradually created a partial
and symbolic set of safety nets, is now in the process of restricting and reducing them. In an
era characterized by austerity and concerns over public debt, the reality of the welfare state is
increasingly restricted. Ironically, however, the idea of the welfare state and the expectation that
the state is the provider of public goods remains prevalent, setting the scene for continuous
disappointment and ultimately serious disaffection.
Since the provision of collective goods, including public security, has in many instances
been patchy and incomplete, with the current phase characterized by the entrenchment and
withdrawal of the state, there are numerous opportunities for alternative forms of governance,
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