Decentralization in Ecuador
Decentralization in Ecuador

Author: Jonas Frank

Publisher: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13:

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Decentralization in Ecuador offers a new provocative interpretation in understanding why and how power, as well as resources, are shifted to local levels of government. The book argues that actors and their incentives are the driving force for change legislators and labor unions, indigenous people and presidents, finance ministers and regional governors are the real protagonists of the game of decentralization. It shows why Ecuador's different interest groups achieved breakthroughs to redistribute resources at particular moments in time, but failed so remarkably in others, falling onto the path of "successful failure." As becomes apparent time and again, ironically it is often the winners of partial decentralization that provide the greatest obstacle to complete reform and achieve more beneficial outcomes. Drawing from first-hand experience with Ecuadorian policymakers, Decentralization in Ecuador presents conclusions about political strategies that have important implications for al

Local Politics in Jordan and Morocco
Local Politics in Jordan and Morocco

Author: Janine A. Clark

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2018-04-03

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 0231545010

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In recent years, authoritarian states in the Middle East and North Africa have faced increasing international pressure to decentralize political power. Decentralization is presented as a panacea that will foster good governance and civil society, helping citizens procure basic services and fight corruption. Two of these states, Jordan and Morocco, are monarchies with elected parliaments and recent experiences of liberalization. Morocco began devolving certain responsibilities to municipal councils decades ago, while Jordan has consistently followed a path of greater centralization. Their experiences test such assumptions about the benefits of localism. Janine A. Clark examines why Morocco decentralized while Jordan did not and evaluates the impact of their divergent paths, ultimately explaining how authoritarian regimes can use decentralization reforms to consolidate power. Local Politics in Jordan and Morocco argues that decentralization is a tactic authoritarian regimes employ based on their coalition strategies to expand their base of support and strengthen patron-client ties. Clark analyzes the opportunities that decentralization presents to local actors to pursue their interests and lays out how municipal-level figures find ways to use reforms to their advantage. In Morocco, decentralization has resulted not in greater political inclusivity or improved services, but rather in the entrenchment of pro-regime elites in power. The main Islamist political party has also taken advantage of these reforms. In Jordan, decentralization would undermine the networks that benefit elites and their supporters. Based on extensive fieldwork, Local Politics in Jordan and Morocco is an important contribution to Middle East studies and political science that challenges our understanding of authoritarian regimes’ survival strategies and resilience.

Deepening Local Democracy in Latin America
Deepening Local Democracy in Latin America

Author: Benjamin Goldfrank

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2015-09-10

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 0271074515

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The resurgence of the Left in Latin America over the past decade has been so notable that it has been called “the Pink Tide.” In recent years, regimes with leftist leaders have risen to power in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Uruguay, and Venezuela. What does this trend portend for the deepening of democracy in the region? Benjamin Goldfrank has been studying the development of participatory democracy in Latin America for many years, and this book represents the culmination of his empirical investigations in Brazil, Uruguay, and Venezuela. In order to understand why participatory democracy has succeeded better in some countries than in others, he examines the efforts in urban areas that have been undertaken in the cities of Porto Alegre, Montevideo, and Caracas. His findings suggest that success is related, most crucially, to how nationally centralized political authority is and how strongly institutionalized the opposition parties are in the local arenas.

Decentralization and Local Democracy in the World
Decentralization and Local Democracy in the World

Author: United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG)

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2008-11-04

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 0821377353

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'Decentralization and Local Democracy in the World' constitutes a global reference on decentralization by presenting the contemporary situation of local governments in all regions of the world. The report analyzes local authorities in each continent under three main themes: the evolution of territorial structures; responsibilities and power, management and finances; and local democracy. An additional chapter is dedicated to the governance of large metropolises, where rapid growth presents major challenges, in particular in the fast-developing countries of the South. This report also offers a comparative overview of the different realities concerning the state of decentralization, and how the basic indispensable mechansims for local democracy do, or do not exist in come countries. Relationships between the state and local authorities are evolving toward innovative forms of cooperation. In this context, the role of local authorities in the development of global policies is increasingly recognized. The first Global Observatory on Local Democracy and Decentralization (GOLD) Report is one of the main products of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG). The GOLD Report is the first of what will be a triennial publication. UCLG represents and defends the interests of local governments on the world stage, regardless of the size of the communities they serve. Headquartered in Barcelona, the organization's stated mission is: To be the united voice and world advocate of democratic local self-government, promoting its values, objectives and interests, through cooperation between local governments, and within the wider international community.

Revisiting Ecuador's Economic and Social Agenda in an Evolving Landscape
Revisiting Ecuador's Economic and Social Agenda in an Evolving Landscape

Author: Vicente Fretes Cibils

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 484

ISBN-13: 0821371452

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Ecuadorian society has overcome adversity with great determination over the past few years. Periodic economic crises, external shocks, and even natural disasters tested the country's ability to cope with difficulties. Despite these challenges, the country has maintained a forward looking perspective and has achieved some important goals. Economic stability in the last few years has ushered in a period of sustained economic growth. During this period several development indicators have improved, and several sectors of the economy have demonstrated the dynamism and entrepreneurship that is present in the Ecuadorian culture. Revisiting Ecuador's Economic and Social Agenda in an Evolving Landscape aims to provoke a lively discussion between the World Bank, the new Correa administration, and the entire country, in addressing the unresolved issues that require a thoughtful approach.

Ecuador's Environmental Revolutions
Ecuador's Environmental Revolutions

Author: Tammy L. Lewis

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2016-03-04

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0262034298

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An account of the movement for sustainable development in Ecuador through four eras: movement origins, neoliberal boom, neoliberal bust, and citizens' revolution. Ecuador is biologically diverse, petroleum rich, and economically poor. Its extraordinary biodiversity has attracted attention and funding from such transnational environmental organizations as Conservation International, the World Wildlife Fund, and the United States Agency for International Development. In Ecuador itself there are more than 200 environmental groups dedicated to sustainable development, and the country's 2008 constitution grants constitutional rights to nature. The current leftist government is committed both to lifting its people out of poverty and pursuing sustainable development, but petroleum extraction is Ecuador's leading source of revenue. While extraction generates economic growth, which supports the state's social welfare agenda, it also causes environmental destruction. Given these competing concerns, will Ecuador be able to achieve sustainability? In this book, Tammy Lewis examines the movement for sustainable development in Ecuador through four eras: movement origins (1978 to 1987), neoliberal boom (1987 to 2000), neoliberal bust (2000 to 2006), and citizens' revolution (2006 to 2015). Lewis presents a typology of Ecuador's environmental organizations: ecoimperialists, transnational environmentalists from other countries; ecodependents, national groups that partner with transnational groups; and ecoresisters, home-grown environmentalists who reject the dominant development paradigm. She examines the interplay of transnational funding, the Ecuadorian environmental movement, and the state's environmental and development policies. Along the way, addressing literatures in environmental sociology, social movements, and development studies, she explores what configuration of forces—political, economic, and environmental—is most likely to lead to a sustainable balance between the social system and the ecosystem.

Fresh Tracks in the Forest: Assessing Incipient Payments for Environmental Services Initiatives in Bolivia
Fresh Tracks in the Forest: Assessing Incipient Payments for Environmental Services Initiatives in Bolivia

Author: Nina Robertson

Publisher: CIFOR

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 9793361816

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Payments for Environmental Services (PES) are being considered worldwide with great interest and expectation. Proposals to create agreements in which beneficiaries of environmental services pay landowners directly for the provision or protection of these services are innovative and promising. But what real PES experiences are actually out there? This work assesses a range of PES or PES-type experiences in one country, Bolivia, in the fields of carbon sequestration, protection of watershed services, biodiversity and aesthetic landscape values. The report concludes that while none of the generally young initiatives adhere fully to the principle of PES as developed in the theoretical literature, many experiment with some of the relevant PES mechanisms. Protection of watersheds and landscape values are the most common types, though the implementing intermediaries often have underlying biodiversity-protection goals. Main obstacles to PES implementation include ideological resistance against the PES concept, the difficulty of building trust between buyers and sellers, and limited willingness to pay on behalf of service users. During their relatively short lifetime, basically all initiatives had been successful in making service sellers (PES recipients) better off in economic terms, while the effectiveness in achieving environmental objectives and securing positive social impacts so far remained more variable. In some cases, redesigning these initiatives to bring them closer to the full PES principles could also enable them to more effectively achieve positive environmental and livelihood outcomes.

Handbook on Decentralization, Devolution and the State
Handbook on Decentralization, Devolution and the State

Author: Lago, Ignacio

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2021-10-19

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 1839103280

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Taking a multidisciplinary approach to the dynamics of political and economic decentralization in contemporary regimes, this comprehensive Handbook offers a critical examination of how the decentralization of governance affects citizen well-being.

Grassroots Global Governance
Grassroots Global Governance

Author: Craig M. Kauffman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0190625732

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To address global problems like climate change, transnational networks promote "best practices" locally around the world. Grassroots Global Governance explains the variations in their success levels and why implementing these "global ideas" locally causes them to evolve at the international level. Ultimately, the book demonstrates how global governance is partially constructed at the grassroots.

Fiscal Federalism in Latin America
Fiscal Federalism in Latin America

Author: Eduardo Wiesner Durán

Publisher: IDB

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 9781931003483

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This text helps Latin American policymakers meet the challenge of decentralization to improve public sector performance at all levels of government by appropriately assigning jurisdiction over public goods, services, tax authority and user charges.