Paper short abstract:

Mounting evidence from Africa and other regions suggests that communities living beyond the reach of government are forging impressive informal systems of governance. These local governance systems are brokering deals with state authorities which are willing but not able to govern in their frontier zone.

Paper long abstract:

Mounting evidence suggests that communities living beyond the reach of government are forging impressive informal systems of governance. In some cases the these local governance systems are brokering deals with state authorities which are willing but not able to govern in their froniter zone, leading to the rise of "mediated states" in some of Africa's failed states. This paper draws on both recent fieldwork by the author and recent research by others to examine comparatively the dynamics and features of the mediated state as an important but poorly understood system of governance in Africa.