Weak state capacity is one of the most important explanations of civil conflict. Yet, current conceptualizations of state capacity typically focus only on the state while ignoring the relational nature of armed conflict. We argue that opportunities for conflict arise where relational state capacity is low, that is, where the state has less control over its subjects than its potential challengers. This occurs in ethnic groups that are poorly accessible from the state capital, but are internally highly interconnected. To test this argument, we digitize detailed African road maps and convert them into a road atlas akin to Google Maps. We measure the accessibility and internal connectedness of groups via travel times obtained from this atlas and simulate road networks for an instrumental variable design. Our findings suggest that low relational state capacity increases the risk of armed conflict in Africa.

中文翻译：

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统治之路，叛乱之路：国家关系能力与非洲冲突

国家能力薄弱是内战最重要的解释之一。但是，当前的国家能力概念通常只关注国家，而忽略了武装冲突的关系性质。我们认为，在国家关系能力低下的情况下，即在国家对其主体的控制少于其潜在挑战者的情况下，就会出现冲突的机会。这种情况发生在无法从州府到达的种族群体中，但在内部却高度相互联系。为了验证这一论点，我们将详细的非洲路线图数字化，并将其转换为类似于Google Maps的路线图。我们通过从此地图集获得的旅行时间来衡量群体的可及性和内部连通性，并模拟道路网络进行工具变量设计。