it is at this local level that citizens tend to experience exclusion arbitrariness and dispossession from the state which in turn can lead to fear frustration and disempowerment haar van der in some cases these institutions may provide valuable routes to empower poor people and can act as building blocks to gradual engagement with the state as its capacity grows opportunities for external actors to enable empowerment processes are likely to be limited but it is essential to act to protect the livelihoods and assets of poor people to reduce tensions and promote ongoing exchange and cooperation between different parts of society historically elites have used coercion to build states popular resistance has forced them to exercise constraint and provide protection tilly and marginalised groups have used violence to challenge state authority