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’

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