Devolution Without Disruption
Author: Kathy Whimp
Publisher:
Published: 2012
Total Pages: 272
ISBN-13:
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Making Devolution Work for Service Delivery in Kenya
Author: Abdu Muwonge
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Published: 2022-02-23
Total Pages: 197
ISBN-13: 146481726X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKKenya adopted a new Constitution and began the process of devolution in 2010. The new Constitution was the institutional response to longstanding grievances over the centralization of state powers and public sector resources, and regional disparities in service delivery and development outcomes. This radical restructuring of the Kenyan state has three main objectives: decentralizing political power, public sector functions, and public finances; ensuring a more equitable spatial distribution of resources between regions; and promoting more accountable, participatory, and responsive government at all levels. The first elections under the new Constitution were held in 2013. Alongside the national government, 47 new county governments were established. Each county government is made up of a County Executive, headed by an elected Governor and works under the oversight of an elected County Assembly. Seven years after the "devolution train" left the station, this report takes stock of how devolution has affected the delivery of devolved basic services to Kenyan citizens. Whereas devolution was driven by political reform, the ensuing institutions and systems were expected to deliver greater socioeconomic equity through devolved service delivery. The Making Devolution Work for Service Delivery (MDWSD) study is the first major assessment of Kenya’s devolution reform. The study was a jointly coordinated effort by the Government of Kenya and the World Bank. The study provides key messages with respect to what is working, what is not working, and what could work better to enhance service delivery based on the currently available data. It provides an independent assessment of service delivery performance in five sectors, namely health, education, agriculture, urban, and water services and includes an in-depth review of the main pillars of devolved service delivery, namely public financial management, intergovernmental finance, human resource management, politics and accountability.
Governing Urban Africa
Author: Carlos Nunes Silva
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2016-12-09
Total Pages: 383
ISBN-13: 1349951099
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book explores some of the key challenges confronting the governance of cities in Africa, the reforms implemented in the field of urban governance, and the innovative approaches in critical areas of local governance, namely in the broad field of decentralization and urban planning reform, citizen participation, and good governance. The collection also investigates the constraints that continuously hamper urban governments as well as the ability to improve urban governance in African cities through citizen responsive innovations. Decentralization based on the principle of subsidiarity emerges as a critical necessary reform if African cities are to be appropriately empowered to face the challenges created by the unprecedented urban growth rate experienced all over the continent. This requires, among other initiatives, the implementation of an effective local self-government system, the reform of planning laws, including the adoption of new planning models, the development of citizen participation in local affairs, and new approaches to urban informality. The book will be of interest to students, researchers and policy makers in urban studies, and in particular for those interested in urban planning in Africa.
The Impact of Devolution in Wales
Author: Jane Williams
Publisher: University of Wales Press
Published: 2022-06-15
Total Pages: 303
ISBN-13: 1786838877
DOWNLOAD EBOOKGeorgetown Journal of International Affairs, Winter/Spring 2015
Author: Anna Newby
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
Published: 2015-03-11
Total Pages: 239
ISBN-13: 1626162255
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is the official publication of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Each issue of the journal provides readers with a diverse array of timely, peer-reviewed content penned by top policymakers, business leaders, and academic luminaries. The Journal takes a holistic approach to international affairs and features a 'Forum' that offers focused analysis on a specific key issue with each new edition of the publication, as well as nine regular sections: Books, Business & Economics, Conflict & Security, Culture & Society, Law & Ethics, A Look Back, Politics & Diplomacy, Science & Technology, and View from the Ground.
Lessons for Effective Fiscal Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Mr.Niko A Hobdari
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Published: 2018-07-06
Total Pages: 63
ISBN-13: 1484358260
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFiscal decentralization is becoming a pressing issue in a number of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, reflecting demands for a greater local voice in spending decisions and efforts to strengthen social cohesion. Against this backdrop, this paper seeks to distill the lessons for an effective fiscal decentralization reform, focusing on the macroeconomic aspects. The main findings for sub-Saharan African countries that have decentralized, based on an empirical analysis and four case studies (Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda), are as follows: • Determinants and effectiveness: Empirical results suggest that (1) the major driving forces behind fiscal decentralization in sub-Saharan Africa include efforts to defuse ethnic conflicts, the initial level of income, and the urban-ization rate, whereas strength of democracy is not an important determi-nant for decentralization; and (2) decentralization in sub-Saharan Africa is associated with higher growth in the presence of stronger institutions. • Spending assignments: The allocation of spending across levels of gov-ernment in the four case studies is broadly consistent with best practice. However, in Uganda, unlike in the other three case studies, subnational governments have little flexibility to make spending decisions as a result of a deconcentrated rather than a devolved system of government. • Own revenue: The assignment of taxing powers is broadly in line with best practice in the four case studies, with the bulk of subnational revenue coming from property taxes and from fees for local services. However, own revenues are a very small fraction of subnational spending, reflecting weak cadaster systems and a high level of informality in the economy.
Devolution and Social Citizenship in the UK
Author: Scott L. Greer
Publisher: Policy Press
Published: 2009-01-21
Total Pages: 252
ISBN-13: 9781847420350
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis timely book explores how changing territorial politics are impacting on social citizenship rights across the UK.
Human rights and democratic governance in Kenya: A post-2007 appraisal
Author: John Osogo Ambani
Publisher: PULP
Published: 2015-08-21
Total Pages: 431
ISBN-13: 1920538380
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis publication is a collection of essays on human rights and democratic governance in Kenya in the period after the 2007 post-elections violence. After surviving the trauma of electoral violence, the country soon embarked on a journey towards reconstruction by engaging in, among other things, intense re-evaluation of the then existing system of laws and institutions. In the process, the daunting task has been to reverse the flawed systems that have been in existence for many decades and in their place entrench systems that would promote and respect democratic governance and human rights. This publication, therefore, documents the extent of the country’s reconstruction since 2007, and makes recommendations for the way forward for the recovery of the state.
Intergovernmental Transfers in Federations
Author: Serdar Yilmaz
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Published: 2020-01-31
Total Pages: 375
ISBN-13: 1789900859
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIntergovernmental Transfers in Federations presents a synthesis of international experience of large federations in the most recent times in addressing the most fundamental issue of horizontal and vertical imbalances in their countries through the prism of intergovernmental transfers. Contributors delve into the various aspects of policy making as well as policy choices in selecting an efficiency path for a meaningful fiscal devolution aimed at integrating performance and incentives to reach an expenditure mix that facilitates better service delivery.
Assessing Constitutional Performance
Author: Tom Ginsburg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2016-08-30
Total Pages: 447
ISBN-13: 1316712575
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom London to Libya, from Istanbul to Iceland, there is great interest among comparative constitutional scholars and practitioners about when a proposed constitution is likely to succeed. But what does it mean for a constitution to succeed? Are there universal criteria of success, and which apply across the board? Or, is the choice of criteria entirely idiosyncratic? This edited volume takes on the idea of constitutional success and shows the manifold ways in which it can be understood. It collects essays from philosophers, political scientists, empiricists and legal scholars, that approach the definition of constitutional success from many different angles. It also brings together case studies from Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. By exploring a varied array of constitutional histories, this book shows how complex ideas of constitutional success play out differently in different contexts and provides examples of how success can be differently defined under different circumstances.
