ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that three factors determine success: legitimacy, task complexity, and institutionalization, including the provision of adequate resources. A consolidated state enjoys the privileges of international legal sovereignty, including recognition, the right to enter into treaties, and to join international organizations. It is a full “Westphalian/Vattelian” sovereign: Domestic authority structures are autonomously determined. In areas of limited statehood, some of the functions that have traditionally been associated with the state have been assumed by external actors. The level of state capacity in areas of limited statehood does not explain the degree of service provision. The other articles in the second section of this special issue show that the ability of external organization to provide services depends on the legitimacy enjoyed by these organizations, the complexity of the tasks they are engaged in, and their institutional design. A small percentage of states in the contemporary international system can be characterized as having consolidated statehood, that is, fully effective domestic sovereignty.
