War and State Development

PSCI 2227, Spring 2026
Prof. Brenton Kenkel, Vanderbilt University

Reading Guides

Date Reading
Wednesday, January 7 Spruyt 1994, ‘Institutional Selection in International Relations: State Anarchy as Order’
Monday, January 12 Olson 1993, ‘Dictatorship, Democracy, and Development’
Wednesday, January 14 Sánchez de la Sierra 2020, ‘On the Origins of the State’
Wednesday, January 21 Tilly 1990, ‘How War Made States, and Vice Versa’
Monday, January 26 Abramson 2017, ‘The Economic Origins of the Territorial State’
Wednesday, February 4 Thies 2005, ‘War, Rivalry, and State Building in Latin America’
Monday, February 9 Dincecco and Wang 2018, ‘Violent Conflict and Political Development Over the Long Run: China versus Europe’
Monday, February 16 Levi 1988, Of Rule and Revenue
Wednesday, February 18 Karaman and Pamuk 2013, ‘Different Paths to the Modern State in Europe’
Monday, February 23 Queralt 2019, ‘War, International Finance, and Fiscal Capacity in the Long Run’
Wednesday, February 25 Kenkel and Paine 2023, ‘A Theory of External Wars and European Parliaments’
Wednesday, March 4 Cox, Dincecco, and Onorato 2023, ‘Window of Opportunity: War and the Origins of Parliament’
Monday, March 16 Acemoglu and Robinson 2000, ‘Why Did the West Extend the Franchise?’
Wednesday, March 18 Przeworski 2008, ‘Conquered or Granted? A History of Suffrage Extensions’
Monday, March 23 Blattman 2009, ‘From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda’
Wednesday, March 25 Anderson 1983, Imagined Communities
Monday, March 30 Sambanis, Skaperdas, Wohlforth 2015, ‘Nation-Building through War’
Wednesday, April 1 Darden and Mylonas 2016, ‘Threats to Territorial Integrity, National Mass Schooling, and Linguistic Commonality’
Monday, April 13 Brewer 1988, The Sinews of Power, chapters 3–4
Wednesday, April 15 Chen 2023, ‘State Formation and Bureaucratization: Evidence from Pre-Imperial China’

Lecture Slides

Date Topic
Monday, January 5 Introduction to the course
Wednesday, January 7 Sovereign states
Monday, January 12 and Wednesday, January 14 Roving and stationary bandits
Wednesday, January 21 How war made states in Europe
Monday, February 2 European states: From war or wheat?
Wednesday, February 4 War and statebuilding in Latin America
Monday, February 9 Exit, voice, and war in Europe vs. China
Monday, February 16 Raising revenue
Wednesday, February 18 War and revenue: Statistical evidence
Monday, February 23 Paying for war: Taxes versus debt
Wednesday, February 25 How war affects elite incentives
Wednesday, March 4 War, commerce, and the creation of parliaments
Monday, March 16 Democratization: The basics
Wednesday, March 18 War and suffrage expansion
Monday, March 23 How war affects individual political participation
Wednesday, March 25 Nationalism
Monday, March 30 Nation building and war
Wednesday, April 1 War threats and language
Monday, April 13 Bureaucracy
Wednesday, April 15 War and bureaucratization