Governance discourse in development agencies and the social sciences remains centered on an ""ideal type"" of modern statehood, one that exhibits full internal and external sovereignty and a legitimate monopoly on the use of force. Yet modern statehood remains an anomaly, both historically and in the contemporary international system, while the condition of ""limited statehood, "" wherein countries lack the capacity to implement central decisions and monopolize force, is the norm. Limited statehood, argue the authors in this provocative collection, is in fact a fundamental form of governan.