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(Residual) statehood and functional equivalents

In our areas of investigation, state bodies are neither able to effectively enforce political decisions nor to assert a monopoly on the use of force. Actors of governance have to cope with routine abuses of office in local government agencies. Nevertheless, successful governance regularly depends on particular state functions, for example, infrastructure services or the management of non-state governance. Functional equivalents to the state's “shadow of hierarchy” are the hierarchical control by external actors; the looming absence of political order (which motivates non-state actors to produce collective goods by themselves); as well as anticipated boosts to non-state actors’ reputation.