State capacity is a concept of growing importance in political research. Broadly speaking, it refers to the state’s ability to implement policies, yet there is considerable scholarly disagreement over how exactly to define and measure it, and over what its key dimensions are. This disagreement has affected negatively the accumulation of knowledge on the topic, as scholars have talked past one another, using the term ‘state capacity’ to denote disparate meanings and operationalising it in different ways.
The aim of this panel is to bring together scholars working on state capacity to discuss original approaches to conceptualising and measuring it in political research. Both theoretical and empirical submissions are welcome, provided they engage substantively with questions related to the conceptualisation and measurement of state capacity, and have the objective of advancing the research agenda towards greater conceptual clarity and empirical precision.