Is Decentralization Good for Development?


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.




Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries


Book Description

Comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives on the current trend in the developing world of devolving political and economic power to local governments.




Decentralization and Development of Sri Lanka Within a Unitary State


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.




Decentralisation and Regional Development


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.




Decentralisation, Local Governance and Development: An Aspect of Development


Book Description

Communities need a holistic approach to address the problems that affect the people at the grass root. The planning of the direct beneficiaries involves decentralization in order to allow the lower power centers to widely take part in the development of society. Concerns of the grass root people form the need for decentralization and local governance. People’s involvement in the planning on the village level and all local government units, makes the identification and solving of the problem easier. High participatory levels of all the people especially the marginalized, encourages innovation to source for the appropriate solutions to the common problems that face society. It therefore calls a decentralized system that caters for the voters’ preferences while providing for their services. The people’s concerns call for local planning and the transfer of power to the public so that services are brought nearer to the people. This study will cover the aspects of local government and decentralization such as good governance, democratization, civil society, deconcentration, devolution and delegation, and its relation to the development of societies.




Decentralization & Development


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.




Devolution and Development


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.




Decentralization, Democracy, and Development in Africa


Book Description

Decentralization reforms introduced to Africa in the 1990s have not always delivered the intended long-term outcomes. This is a collection on the consequences of these reforms two decades on. In addition to general and comparative overviews, the book contains case studies on Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The common theme across the chapters is that the reforms seem to have engendered political consequences beyond decentralization itself – mostly through interaction with the broader historical, political, social, and economic context. The book thus speaks both to the scholarly literature (on decentralization, democratization, and development) and to the community of development practitioners. Most of the literature on decentralization and development emphasizes questions of institutional design and policy, but here the harder-to-pin-down political patterns marking the workings of decentralization are the main focus of analysis. The debates on development, through the case studies, are connected to the scholarly literatures on comparative federalism, comparative decentralization, and local democracy. The main conclusion that emerges from the studies in the book is that no magic formula that can turn countries into peaceful, stable, and prosperous democracies overnight exists. Furthermore, there are risks involved in importing formal institutions without regard to the local historical, political, social, and economic context. The chapters of this book were originally published as a special issue in Regional and Federal Studies.




Decentralisation, Local Governance and Development


Book Description

Script from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - Topic: Development Politics, grade: A, ( Atlantic International University ) (BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS), course: REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT - Development issues, language: English, abstract: Communities need a holistic approach to address problems that affect the people at the grass root. Planning from the direct beneficiaries involves decentralization to allow the lower power centers to widely take part in the development of society. Concerns of the grass root people form the need for decentralization and of local governance. People’s involvement in planning at various levels from the village level and all local government units makes problem identification and problem solving easier. High participatory levels of all the people especially the marginalized, encourages innovation to source for the appropriate solutions to the common problems that face society. It therefore calls a decentralized system that caters for the voters’ preferences while providing for their services. The concerns of the people call for local planning , transfer of power to the public so that services are brought nearer to the people. This research paper will cover the aspects of local government and decentralization such as good governance, democratization, civil society, deconcetration,devolution and delegation and how these link to development of societies. Purpose of the Study. The course will aid people and managers to - Empower the population so that they are able to manage the public affairs themselves. - Develop skills for good governance and involving the people in making decisions that affect their wellbeing in their respective communities.