State-building

In political science, state-building as a term used in state theory describes the construction of a functioning state. The term first entered academic debate in the context of Charles Tilly's influential work on the origins of states (1975: 70f.):

"State building provided for the emergence of specialized personnel, control over consolidated territory, loyalty, and durability, permanent institutions with a centralized and autonomous state that held the monopoly of violence over a given population".

State-building now more commonly refers to the construction or reform of governmental institutions by external actors in "failed" or "fragile" states. This further includes reforms of state-society relations with the objective of strengthening state resilience. The OECD identifies three critical aspects: