Whose State? Whose Nation? Explaining Uneven State Capacity in Hispanic America

ETH Zurich.

This dissertation examines how national projects in the century after independence influenced the territorial distribution of state‐building efforts in Hispanic America. My argument is that states built capacity in regions inhabited by “core”groups belonging to the political community and in areas with preexistent military threats from “subaltern”groups. However, while states use such capacity to provide public services in regions inhabited by core groups, they focus on coercion and assimilation in regions with ethnic threats. These processes result in uneven state capacity, overlapping with ethnic inequality in access to state services.

URL: https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000675217

DOI: 10.3929/ethz-b-000675217

Galano Toro, Paola. 2024. “Whose State? Whose Nation? Explaining Uneven State Capacity in Hispanic America.” ETH Zurich.

@phdthesis{whose-state-whose-nation,
   title = {Whose State? Whose Nation? Explaining Uneven State Capacity in Hispanic America},
   author = {Galano Toro, Paola},
   school = {ETH Zurich},
   type = {{PhD} dissertation},
   doi = {10.3929/ethz-b-000675217},
   url = {https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000675217},
   year = {2024},
   abstract = {This dissertation examines how national projects in the century after independence influenced the territorial distribution of state-building efforts in Hispanic America. My argument is that states built capacity in regions inhabited by \textquotedblleft core\textquotedblright  groups belonging to the political community and in areas with preexistent military threats from \textquotedblleft subaltern\textquotedblright  groups. However, while states use such capacity to provide public services in regions inhabited by core groups, they focus on coercion and assimilation in regions with ethnic threats. These processes result in uneven state capacity, overlapping with ethnic inequality in access to state services.},
   status = {nastac-phd}
}