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This year’s index is based on more than 90,000 sources of public information that allow the analysis of 177 countries. This measures the degree to which a state has become deteriorated. This conclusion can be reached through the 12 indicators that measure such deterioration.
The term makes reference to a series of conditions that drive a country toward the weakening of its government in relation to the economic, social and political demands that its society makes. Comparatively, it qualifies a country as “successful” if it maintains legitimate use of its armed forces within its own physical borders. When the legitimate use of force is no longer perceived (e.g. when there is the presence of guerrilla groups, paramilitary forces or terrorist organizations), the preservation of social life is put at risk, thus turning the country into a Failed State. Nevertheless, there is controversy regarding the political and military implications that entail labeling a country as a Failed State due to the fact that there is a loss of legitimacy by the current regime.
Finally, the term is also utilized in the sense that a State has been unable to fulfill its assigned functions in matters of security, justice, transparency, and social and economic development. The onus is on the capacity that a State has to enforce its laws in a uniform manner demonstrating its ability to reduce high crime rates, rampant corruption, the extensive growth of informal markets, impenetrable bureaucracy, ineffective justice, and situations in which a society acts that is independent of the State that has been unable to fulfill its mandates successfully.
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