Developmental Crises: A Comparative-Historical Analysis of State-Building in Colonial Botswana and Malaysia

摘要

The construction of states with the capacity to provide collective goods is a common developmental goal, yet state-building is a very difficult process that cannot be accomplished at will. This article investigates factors that make possible punctuated state institutional change through a comparative-historical analysis of two former British colonies: Botswana and Malaysia. It provides evidence that crises have the potential to break institutional inertia and thereby create openings for relatively rapid and extensive state-building. In particular, crises can promote reforms by transforming incentives, readjusting power relations, and forging a political consensus. Both cases also show that these changes occurred during the late colonial period and therefore provide evidence that colonial transitions had the potential to adjust the institutional legacies of colonialism.