Formation of the State in Colombia and the historical origin of its coercive weakness. Some approaches

Abstract

This reflection article was born based on a master’s thesis of the Political Studies program entitled: 'War and Formation of the State in Colombia,' which is based on the assumption that political violence (war, more specifically), is a crucial element to form modern States since this activity promotes institutional development typical of modern times. This document is an approach to the origin of the Colombian state and weakness of its coercive institutions, which has partially prevented from obtaining monopoly of legitimate violence. For this reason, coercive institutions in Colombia devoted to war have found themselves obliged to face internal conflicts and have most of the time left reflections on interstate conflicts aside.