Quote Originally Posted by davidbfpo View Post
AdamG,

In my experience and viewing there is rarely a vacuum. When the state's power ebbs away or was never really that powerful (southern Italy comes to mind) there are alternative providers of 'order'.

On one large public housing project here there was a community court, which dealt mainly with petty theft and anti-social behaviour by juveniles. rarely were the police involved, although a couple of officers knew it existed. It was remarkably effective - according to those who spoke - and even the local criminal families accepted the court.

There have been several documentaries on alternative order providers in the shanty towns of South Africa. What I recall were: payment by results, lack of an effective state response and the narrow line for the alternative providers and what the community thought acceptable.
Thats right, somebody will fill that role sooner or later.