Miguel A. Centeno is the Musgrave Professor of Sociology and Professor of Sociology and International Affairs at Princeton University, New Jersey. Atul Kohli is the David K. E. Bruce Professor of International Affairs and Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University, New Jersey. Deborah J. Yashar is Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University, New Jersey, and chief-editor of World Politics. Dinsha Mistree is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, Stanford University.

• 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.