State capacity
State capacity is a government’s ability to implement policy, enforce law, raise revenue, and provide public services across its territory.
Bureaucracy: An administrative system of offices and officials that carries out public policy and manages state functions. A professional bureaucracy converts political decisions into consistent administration.
Civil service: The permanent, nonpartisan body of public employees who administer government programs and regulations. Merit-based officials preserve administrative expertise across changes in political leadership.
Public goods: Goods that are nonexcludable and nonrival, such as clean air or national defense. Their provision often depends on collective action coordinated by capable states.
Economic development: Long-term improvement in living standards, productive capacity, and economic opportunities. Effective administration can support markets and services, while weak capacity can obstruct them.
State autonomy: The degree to which state officials can formulate and pursue policies independently of social groups and private interests. A government may act independently yet lack the institutions to carry out its choices.
Taxation: The compulsory collection of money or property by public authorities to fund government and public services. Reliable revenue gives the state resources to implement policy.
Cadastral map: A map that records land parcels, boundaries, ownership, or assessed value for administrative and legal purposes. Land records help governments identify property and assess taxes.
Public health: The organized effort to protect and improve the health of populations through prevention, policy, and services. Disease surveillance and coordinated response test administrative reach and competence.
State failure: The severe inability of a state to maintain security, provide basic services, or sustain legitimate authority. It marks an extreme breakdown in capabilities that state capacity measures in degrees.
Democracy: A system of government in which political authority is ultimately accountable to the people, typically through elections. Democratic accountability describes how power is authorized, not how effectively it is exercised.