Historical State Development (Teil I) - Detailseite

The course examines the modern empirical study of state formation, pairing close readings with weekly replication exercises in R. We investigate how states emerge, how they consolidate authority, and how they manage populations with different levels of mobility and resistance. Core themes include predation, public-goods provision, taxation, legibility, surveillance, and forced migration. We also study the role of key technologies—railroads, barbed wire, cadasters—in extending control over territory and shaping economic development. The seminar draws mainly on recent work in political science and economics that uses observational data, natural experiments, and structural methods. While many cases come from low-income countries, we also analyze historical episodes from Europe and the United States to compare mechanisms across contexts. Each week we discuss one paper and replicate its main empirical result, giving students hands-on experience with data, research design, and coding. Students should have a solid grounding in statistics and be ready to work in R throughout the course.