The Political Economy of Democratic Decentralization, Page 769Printed on Demand. Limited stock is held for this title. If you would like to order 30 copies or more please contact books@worldbank.org Contact books@worldbank.org, if currently unavailable. Advocates of pluralist, competitive politics have regarded decentralization as a device for deepening democracy or for prying closed systems open and to give interest groups space in which to organize, compete and otherwise assert themselves. Some politicians in central governments see it as a means of delegating expensive tasks to others lower down. From a political economy perspective, this study examines the origins of the current wave of decentralizations in less-developed countries and its implications, especially its promise and limitations for rural development. It is based mainly on empirical evidence drawn from experiments with decentralization in a large number of countries. The paper is divided into six parts. Part I defines terms to show that the word QUOTEdecentralizationQUOTE can mean many different things. Part II examines why some political regimes have often tended not to decentralize even when all indicators support the need for it. Part III seeks to explain the tendency of many regimes during the early 1980s to decentralize. Part IV examines the encounter between decentralized institutions and how they operate within their state-society and political milieu. Part V discusses the advantages and disadvantages of decentralization. Part VI assesses the promise of decentralization for rural development. |
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achieve administrative Africa agencies areas arenas Bangladesh Binswanger and Deininger bureaucrats capacity central governments commandist Côte d'Ivoire councils creative Crook and Manor crucial cumul des mandats decen decentraliza decentralized authorities decentralized bodies decentralized institutions decentralized systems decisions to decentralize deconcentration democracy democratic decentralization developed countries devolution economic elected representatives elites emerge enhance ensure evidence example experiments with decentralization facilitate fiscal decentralization grass roots greater high-level higher levels implement India influence intermediate ization John Gaventa Karnataka Latin America leaders local-level lower level authorities mainly ment mobilization Nickson nongovernmental organizations occur organized interests P.V. Narasimha Rao participation participatory rural appraisal parties patronage systems Philippines policies political systems politicians popular powers and resources problem projects promise ratic recent reform regimes Regional institutions responsiveness Reyes and Jopillo rural development rural dwellers Shah social sustained taxes Tendler things tion tralization urban bias usually voluntary associations voters World Bank