ABSTRACT
States in Africa are generally seen to be characterised by fragility and failure. Such failure is often explained by un-nuanced discourses about the inability of the modern African state to ‘capture’ and control its constituent parts, rendering it vulnerable to violence. Drawing on the realities of West Africa, this chapter argues that states can and do develop in functional ways that may not follow a Weberian model, and that it is the complex, interdependent relationships between the institutions of the modern state and traditional systems of governance that explain the resilience of political communities and may underpin peaceful social order.
