These three case studies are intended to develop a better, evidence-based understanding of the relationship between state building and service delivery.  The first two are 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 ii) Mozambique and Angola. The third case study compares the state-building processes in Cambodia and Laos.