Migdal- Empirical Claims

Migdal’s main claim throughout the book is about social control. The distribution of social control in a state determines whether the state will be strong or weak.

Strong States- Strong states tend to have high levels of social control. This allows leaders to have centralized power and have an easier time implementing policies. Higher levels of social control also allow for the mobilization of society.

Weak States: Weaker states tend to have fragmentized social control and rely on the politics of survival and the triangle of accommodation. In these states, there is a need for an allyship with strongmen to balance power. Weak states also have a limited ability to mobilize society which leads to less centralized control.

When comparing weak and strong states, strong states have higher capabilities. This means that they are able to penetrate society, regulate social relationships, extract resources, and appropriate the resources in a determined way (Migdal, pg 4).