The Scarce State

States Are Often Minimally Present In The Rural Periphery. Yet A Limited Presence Does Not Mean A Limited Impact. Isolated State Actions In Regions Where The State Is Otherwise Scarce Can Have Outsize Long-Lasting Effects On Society. The Scarce State Reframes Our Understanding Of The Political Economy Of Hinterlands Through A Multi-Method Study Of Northern Ghana Alongside Shadow Cases From Other World Regions. Drawing On A Historical Natural Experiment The Book Shows How The Contemporary Economic And Political Elite Emerged In Ghana''S Hinterland Linking Interventions By An Ostensibly Weak State To New Socio-Economic Inequality And Grassroots Efforts To Reimagine Traditional Institutions. The Book Demonstrates How These State-Generated Societal Changes Reshaped Access To Political Power Producing Dynastic Politics Clientelism And Violence. The Scarce State Challenges Common Claims About State-Building And State Weakness Provides New Evidence On The Historical Origins Of Inequality And Reconsiders The Mechanisms Linking Historical Institutions To Contemporary Politics.