Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries

Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries PDF Author: Pranab Bardhan
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262524546
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 375

Get Book

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

Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries

Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries PDF Author: Pranab Bardhan
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262524546
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 375

Get Book

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

The Decentralization of Public Services

The Decentralization of Public Services PDF Author: Jacques Crémer
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Decentralization in management
Languages : en
Pages : 56

Get Book

Book Description


Fiscal Decentralization

Fiscal Decentralization PDF Author: Peter Friedrich
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783830507208
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Get Book

Book Description


Fiscal Decentralization and the Efficiency of Public Service Delivery

Fiscal Decentralization and the Efficiency of Public Service Delivery PDF Author: Moussé Sow
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1475564031
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 30

Get Book

Book Description
This paper explores the impact of fiscal decentralization on the efficiency of public service delivery. It uses a stochastic frontier method to estimate time-varying efficiency coefficients and analyzes the impact of fiscal decentralization on those efficiency coefficients. The findings indicate that fiscal decentralization can improve the efficiency of public service delivery but only under specific conditions. First, the decentralization process requires adequate political and institutional environments. Second, a sufficient degree of expenditure decentralization seems necessary to obtain favorable outcomes. Third, decentralization of expenditure needs to be accompanied by sufficient decentralization of revenue. Absent those conditions, fiscal decentralization can worsen the efficiency of public service delivery.

Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries

Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries PDF Author: Roy Bahl
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1786435306
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Get Book

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.

Decentralizing Governance

Decentralizing Governance PDF Author: G. Shabbir Cheema
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815713908
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 338

Get Book

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.

Decentralization and Popular Democracy

Decentralization and Popular Democracy PDF Author: Jean-Paul Faguet
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 0472118196
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 373

Get Book

Book Description
Faguet identifies the factors that determine the outcomes of national decentralization on the local level

Implementing Decentralized Local Governance

Implementing Decentralized Local Governance PDF Author: Anwar Shah
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Decentralization in government
Languages : en
Pages : 45

Get Book

Book Description


Public Sector Reform in Developing and Transitional Countries

Public Sector Reform in Developing and Transitional Countries PDF Author: Christopher J. Rees
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135740798
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 670

Get Book

Book Description
Over recent decades, decentralization has emerged as a key Public Sector Reform strategy in a wide variety of international contexts. Yet, despite its emergence as a ubiquitous activity that cuts across disciplinary lines in international development, decentralization is understood and applied in many different ways by parties acting from contrary perspectives. This book offers a fascinating insight into theory and practice surrounding decentralization activities in the Public Sectors of developing and transitional countries. In drawing on the expertise of established scholars, the book explores the contexts, achievements, progress and challenges of decentralization and local governance. Notably, the contributions contained in this book are genuinely international in nature; the chapters explore aspects of decentralization and local governance in contexts as diverse as Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Tanzania, Uganda, and Viet Nam. In summary, by examining the subject of decentralization with reference to specific developing and transitional Public Sector contexts in which it has been practiced, this book offers an excellent contribution towards a better understanding of the theory and practice of decentralization and local governance in international settings. This book was published as a special double issue of the International Journal of Public Administration.

Managing Public Services

Managing Public Services PDF Author: Richard Common
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1483161943
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Get Book

Book Description
Managing Public Services: Competition and Decentralization is intended for public sector managers to help them assess their situation and assist them to think creatively about different approaches for the future. The book begins on the general principle that business is good and bureaucracy is bad. This topic is followed by detailed studies of organizations, whether these are in a competitive environment, victims of market rhetoric, or in another competitive spectrum. Public sector managers are then encouraged to analyze their own organizations so appropriate actions can be applied into their situation. The extent to which competition is happening is explained, and if competition does not work well, then the concept of decentralization may be adopted. To what extent decentralization can then be used to increase the motivation and commitment of their employees is explained. The authors believe that new ways and methods of working will follow. But, any successes of these changes have to be measured by an important gauge: the impact upon the recipients of the new and improved services. In any undertaking, failures are bound to happen, and the authors suggest that public sector managers should be more tolerant. Finally, the book notes that to achieve delivery of quality service, whether these are for customers or clients, an important approach to managerial action is the design towards a good experience. Public administrators, heads and CEOs of public institutions and private firms, professors and students in public administration, policymakers, and sociologists will find this book valuable.