Author: Pranab Bardhan Publisher: MIT Press ISBN: 0262524546 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 375
Book Description
Over the past three decades the developing world has seen increasing devolution of political and economic power to local governments. Decentralization is considered an important element of participatory democracy and, along with privatization and deregulation, represents a substantial reduction in the authority of national governments over economic policy. The contributors to Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries examine this institutional transformation from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, offering detailed case studies of decentralization in eight countries: Bolivia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa, and Uganda. Some of these countries witnessed an unprecedented "big bang" shift toward comprehensive political and economic decentralization: Bolivia in 1995 and Indonesia after the fall of Suharto in 1998. Brazil and India decentralized in an uneven and more gradual manner. In some other countries (such as Pakistan), devolution represented an instrument for consolidation of power of a nondemocratic national government. In China, local governments were granted much economic but little political power. South Africa made the transition from the undemocratic decentralization of apartheid to decentralization under a democratic constitution. The studies provide a comparative perspective on the political and economic context within which decentralization took place, and how this shaped its design and possible impact. Contributors Omar Azfar, Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Pranab Bardhan, Shubham Chaudhuri, Ali Cheema, Jean-Paul Faguet, Bert Hofman, Kai Kaiser, Philip E. Keefer, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Justin Yifu Lin, Mingxing Liu, Jeffrey Livingston, Patrick Meagher, Dilip Mookherjee, Ambar Narayan, Adnan Qadir, Ran Tao, Tara Vishwanath, Martin Wittenberg
Author: Jean-Paul Faguet Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0198737505 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 352
Book Description
Is decentralisation good for development? This book explains when the answer is 'Yes' and when it is 'No'. It shows how decentralisation can be designed to drive development forward, and focuses on the institutional incentives that can strengthen democracy, boost economies, and improve public sector performance.
Author: N.S. Cooray Publisher: Springer ISBN: 9811042594 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 364
Book Description
This comprehensive volume provides uniquely diverse insights into various aspects of decentralization and development from both developed and developing countries, with special reference to Sri Lanka. For a quarter century, Sri Lanka was battered by its prolonged civil war, which ended in 2009, but has now achieved relative peace and stability. Having developed rapidly, Sri Lanka offers a classic example for developing countries. There is, however, a strong need, particularly in the context of postwar conflict, to formulate policies for reconciliation, peace building, and development at all levels—local, provincial, and national. Decentralization itself is not a new subject; however, how to devolve power to local administrative levels within a unitary system and how to link the devolved power to make local administrative systems more conducive to development and provide better services for citizens are challenging tasks in many countries. Taking into account the developmental, governance, and conciliatory needs and the sensitivity of central–local relations, this volume critically examines the local government systems in Sri Lanka. It also proposes a viable, effective and autonomous local-level administrative unit based, which draws on experiences from Japan and other countries, and identifies the role and functions of such a unit. The book presents commissioned papers from a three-year research project undertaken by internationally respected experts with financial support by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) under a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research.
Author: Eva Dick Publisher: Springer ISBN: 3319293672 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 185
Book Description
This book analyzes decentralisation, regional development paths and success factors in different governance sectors in Ghana, the Philippines, Tanzania and Chile, and discuss overarching aspects of relevance. Decentralisation, which refers to the delegation of administrative responsibilities, political decision-making and fiscal powers to lower levels of government, is now considered one of the most efficient engines of development. In Sub-Saharan Africa decentralised states have made more progress in reducing poverty than those states with lower decentralisation scores. But in many countries, decentralisation is still considered a ‘work in progress’ with unsatisfactory results. From a spatial point of view, the link between decentralisation and regional and district development is particularly interesting. Both in the North and in the South, regional or district development is seen as holding the potential for advancing social and economic development, and even more so in decentralised political settings. Space-based networks at the regional or district level are considered instrumental for responding to locally specific challenges, e.g. in areas lagging behind economically.
Author: G. Shabbir Cheema Publisher: Brookings Institution Press ISBN: 0815713908 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 338
Book Description
The trend toward greater decentralization of governance activities, now accepted as commonplace in the West, has become a worldwide movement. This international development—largely a product of globalization and democratization—is clearly one of the key factors reshaping economic, political, and social conditions throughout the world. Rather than the top-down, centralized decisionmaking that characterized communist economies and Third World dictatorships in the twentieth century, today's world demands flexibility, adaptability, and the autonomy to bring those qualities to bear. In this thought-provoking book, the first in a new series on Innovations in Governance, experts in government and public management trace the evolution and performance of decentralization concepts, from the transfer of authority within government to the sharing of power, authority, and responsibilities among broader governance institutions. This movement is not limited to national government—it also affects subnational governments, NGOs, private corporations, and even civil associations. The contributors assess the emerging concepts of decentralization (e.g., devolution, empowerment, capacity building, and democratic governance). They detail the factors driving the movement, including political changes such as the fall of the Iron Curtain and the ascendance of democracy; economic factors such as globalization and outsourcing; and technological advances (e.g. increased information technology and electronic commerce). Their analysis covers many different contexts and regions. For example, William Ascher of Claremont McKenna College chronicles how decentralization concepts are playing out in natural resources policy, while Kadmeil Wekwete (United Nations) outlines the specific challenges to decentralizing governance in sub-Saharan Africa. In each case, contributors explore the objectives of a decentralizing strategy as well as the benefits and difficulties that will likely result.
Author: G. Shabbir Cheema Publisher: SAGE Publications, Incorporated ISBN: Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 330
Book Description
Disillusioned with the results of centralized government planning, many countries have recently tried placing planning authority with state, regional or district agencies. The authors in this volume examine experiences in Asia, South America, and Africa to review the varieties of decentralization policies and programmes. They identify the social, economic, and political factors that seem to influence their success or failure. Alternative approaches to decentralization of development planning are discussed, and prescriptions for improved implementation are made. Different concepts of decentralization are explored throughout the book, and the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of decentralization are also detailed.
Author: Fumihiko Saito Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media ISBN: 4431539557 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 277
Book Description
Decentralization - an essential pillar of institutional reform - is of critical importance in developing countries, particularly in regard to democratization, effective development, and good governance. Uganda, since 1986 and the start of decentralization measures under Yoweri Museveni and the National Resistance Movement, has represented one of the most serious commitments in Sub-Saharan Africa. With the benefit of extensive fieldwork, Fumihiko Saito demonstrates how conflict resolution, information dissemination, and encouragement of the many and varied stakeholders to form partnerships are critical to successfully bringing services "closer to the people. Decentralization and Development Partnerships: Lessons from Uganda goes beyond theory to compare academic assumptions to the reality of decentralization implementation in modern Uganda. Although the process is by no means free of difficulties, Saito concludes that a "win-win" outcome is a real possibility.
Author: Roy Bahl Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing ISBN: 1786435306 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 512
Book Description
This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. It focuses on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money.
Author: Mwangi S. Kimenyi Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1351159984 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages : 303
Book Description
Through a collection of unique case studies and theoretical analyses, this work examines the genesis and impact of decentralization reforms in developing and transition countries. In particular, the volume shows how decentralization affects governance and efficiency in the provision of public goods and under what conditions decentralization seems to deliver its theoretical benefits. Analyses in the book address current concerns about the interaction of decentralization with social and political structure, resource mobilization, public goods provision and corruption. This work will be invaluable to scholars of politics, development studies and regional studies.
Author: Pranab Bardhan
Author: Jean-Paul Faguet
Author: N.S. Cooray
Author: Eva Dick
Author: G. Shabbir Cheema
Author: G. Shabbir Cheema
Author: Fumihiko Saito
Author: Roy Bahl
Author: Mwangi S. Kimenyi
Author: Jean-Paul Faguet