Capacity beyond Coercion

The state is often associated with the use of force. In Capacity beyond Coercion, Susan L. Ostermann explains variation in compliance with conservation, education, and child labor regulations across the open India-Nepal border. In so doing, she demonstrates that coercively weak states can significantly increase compliance by behaving pragmatically and designing legal implementation strategies around known barriers to compliance, such as imperfect legal knowledge. Given that many states have weak enforcement capacity, the findings in this book point a way forward for more effective and responsive governance throughout the developing world.