What Makes a State Stable and Peaceful? Good Governance, Legitimacy and Legal-Rationality Matter Even More for Low-Income Countries

This study explores state stability using various governance and development indicators. We find stability is associated with state capacity and public goods, the legal-rational state, legitimacy, good governance and corruption, income/capita and democracy and human rights. In particular, we show the importance of democracy, legitimacy, rule of law and secularity. Environmental degradation and debt dependency undermine stability. Revenue collection, corruption, rule of law, independent judiciary and exports can be important to stability even in the face of incomplete democracy and lower GDP per capita. These factors are relatively more important in low-income states.