This project, led by the HLSP, has been commissioned by DFID to have a better, evidence-based understanding of the relationship between state building and service delivery. A set of four case studies, undertaken by two researchers at HLSP, are intended to document current and historical trends in the evolution of the state; how and when a particular basic service was delivered and why; and what impact the service has had on different elements of the state building process (political settlement, survival functions, public expectations). The selected case studies include Cambodia, Nigeria, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. In addition, ODI is in charge of producing two case studies of comparative (responsive and unresponsive) state-building processes to test the State-Building Framework that DFID has developed, by analysing contrasting state-building experiences in i) Tanzania and Zimbabwe and 2) Mozambique and Angola. A third case study comparing the state-building processes in Cambodia and Laos is being developed by an independent consultant under HLSP supervision.