The Globalized State. On the impact of globalization on national state capacity in the perspective of sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

This thesis provides a case study of sub-Saharan Africa in order to demonstrate how globalization has potential to both benefit and worsen conditions in different areas of the world. The impact of globalization on any particular country is determined by its level in the building and development of national state capacity. A distinction is made between four interdependent notions of state capacity which indicate the state's progress in capacity building. Through a comparative history of state building in sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe, this inquiry determines the importance of the different factors that underpin national state capacity. More specific, this thesis offers a comparative analysis of Botswana and Nigeria to indicate the relationship between their political institutions and the ability to independently raise revenue through taxation. Thus, it draws intensively on the renowned "Why Nations Fail. The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty" by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. Through deploying a wide array of theoretical and statistical methods and approaches, this inquiry concludes that the interplay of historical and institutional factors is the most vital in building national state capacity and understanding the impact of globalization on the state. It appears that 'The Globalized State' does not exist because the many historical contingencies which erode or promote institutional development render some states more globalized than others.