Set in highland Peru, this article explores state-citizen interactions in the aftermath of the decentralization process. By looking at how power is mediated by persons embedded in a dense web of social relations it is discussed how we can understand the state as a social relation. Through an analysis of the concept of abandonment and a series of uneven encounters, it is thus argued that people of rural Peru seek to engage with the state as a particular social form. Consequently, a process of decentralization not only changes institutions but also the social embeddedness of state-citizen interactions.