This thesis is concerned with examining the intersection between the failed state and security governance literatures, through the case study of Jamaica. This thesis is primarily concerned with examining the under-researched link between concerns raised in failed state and security governance literatures. The thesis proposes that the presence of state failure and success in the same setting is a direct result of the execution of a problematic security governance framework that impedes the nation’s ability to establish a stable state infrastructure that is capable of fulfilling the welfare needs of the entire citizenry. By utilising Jamaica as a case study, and more specifically the Tivoli Gardens Incursion as a sub case study, the main contributions to research that this thesis makes is that state failure can co-exist alongside spaces of state success. State failure, as exemplified in Jamaica, can exist on a continuum and manifests itself geographically and within certain sectors of the state system, such as security.