1. Unpacking states in the developing world: capacity, performance, and politics Miguel A. Centeno, Atul Kohli and Deborah J. Yashar; Part I. Order and Reach: 2. The nationalist origins of political order in India and Pakistan Maya Tudor; 3. Violence, fragmented sovereignty, and declining state capacity: rethinking the legacies of developmental statism in Mexico Diane Davis; 4. Unpacking the state's uneven territorial reach: evidence from Latin America Agustina Giraudy and Juan Pablo Luna; 5. Dictatorship and the state: a comparison of state building and state plunder in South Korea, the Philippines, and Thailand Erik Martinez Kuhonta; Part II. Economic Development: 6. Bureaucratic capacity and political autonomy within national states: mapping the archipelago of excellence in Brazil Katherine Bersch, Sérgio Praça and Matthew M. Taylor; 7. State capacity, history, structure, and political contestation in Africa Thandika Mkandawire; 8. The origins of state capacity in Southern Africa's mining economies: elites and institution building in Botswana, Zambia, and South Africa Antoinette Handley; 9. Economic liberalization, electoral coalitions and investment policies in India Kanta Murali; 10. Do Weberian bureaucracies lead to markets of vice versa? A coeveolutionary approach to development Yuen Yuen Ang; Part III. Inclusion and Equity: 11. Development in the city: growth and inclusion in India, Brazil and South Africa Patrick Heller; 12. Campaigns of redistribution: land reform and state building in China and Taiwan, 1950–3 Julia C. Strauss; 13. State capacity and the construction of pro-poor welfare states in the 'developing' world Jeremy Seekings; 14. The political foundations of state effectiveness Peter Evans, Evelyne Huber and John F. Stevens; 15. Conclusion Miguel A. Centeno, Atul Kohli and Deborah J. Yashar.