Challenges • The institutions of security and justice become focussed on keeping the ruling elite/party in power, instead of mediating conflict within society. • Challenges • State capacity is weakened due to low numbers of capable, skilled individuals. • Challenges • The exclusion of particular groups/regions can exacerbate socio-political tensions, compound state fragility and provoke violence. • It might be argued that in some cases this failure stems from poverty and is not a state failure at all, but a development failure.