Dangers of Decentralization

Dangers of Decentralization

Author: Remy Prud'homme

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 43

ISBN-13:

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Demand for decentralization is strong in most parts of the world. This close look at the negative side effects of improperly appled decentralization is not an attack on decentralization but an effort to prevent its misapplication -- and to promote fuller understanding and wiser use of this potentially desirable policy.


Local Accountability and National Coordination in Fiscal Federalism

Local Accountability and National Coordination in Fiscal Federalism

Author: Charles R. Hankla

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2019

Total Pages: 203

ISBN-13: 1788972171

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This book argues that fiscal federalism will consistently deliver on its governance promises only when democratic decentralization is combined with the integration of political parties. It formalizes this argument and, using new data on subnational political institutions, tests it with models of education, health, and infrastructure service delivery in 135 countries across 30 years. It also presents comparative case studies of Senegal and Nigeria. The book emphasizes that a “fine balance” in local governance can be achieved when integrated party structures compensate for the potential downsides of a decentralized state.


Centralized Versus Decentralized Provision of Local Public Goods

Centralized Versus Decentralized Provision of Local Public Goods

Author: Timothy Besley

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13:

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This paper takes a fresh look at the trade-off between centralized and decentralized provision of local public goods. The point of departure is to model a centralized system as one in which public spending is financed by general taxation, but districts can receive different levels of local public goods. In a world of benevolent governments, the disadvantages of centralization stressed in the existing literature disappear, suggesting that the case for decentralization must be driven by political economy considerations. Our political economy analysis assumes that under decentralization public goods are selected by locally elected representatives, while under a centralized system policy choices are determined by a legislature consisting of elected representatives from each district. We then study the role of taste heterogeneity, spillovers and legislative behavior in determining the case for centralization.


Decentralization In Health Care: Strategies And Outcomes

Decentralization In Health Care: Strategies And Outcomes

Author: Saltman, Richard

Publisher: McGraw-Hill Education (UK)

Published: 2006-12-01

Total Pages: 327

ISBN-13: 033521925X

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Exploring the capacity and impact of decentralization within European health care systems, this book examines both the theoretical underpinnings as well as practical experience with decentralization.


Accountability without Democracy

Accountability without Democracy

Author: Lily L. Tsai

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2007-08-27

Total Pages: 55

ISBN-13: 1139466488

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Examines the fundamental issue of how citizens get government officials to provide them with the roads, schools, and other public services they need by studying communities in rural China. In authoritarian and transitional systems, formal institutions for holding government officials accountable are often weak. The state often lacks sufficient resources to monitor its officials closely, and citizens are limited in their power to elect officials they believe will perform well and to remove them when they do not. The answer, Lily L. Tsai found, lies in a community's social institutions. Even when formal democratic and bureaucratic institutions of accountability are weak, government officials can still be subject to informal rules and norms created by community solidary groups that have earned high moral standing in the community.


Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries

Fiscal Decentralization and Local Finance in Developing Countries

Author: Roy Bahl

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2018-03-30

Total Pages: 430

ISBN-13: 1786435306

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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.


The Political Economy of Democratic Decentralization

The Political Economy of Democratic Decentralization

Author: James Manor

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13:

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Nearly all countries worldwide are now experimenting with decentralization. Their motivation are diverse. Many countries are decentralizing because they believe this can help stimulate economic growth or reduce rural poverty, goals central government interventions have failed to achieve. Some countries see it as a way to strengthen civil society and deepen democracy. Some perceive it as a way to off-load expensive responsibilities onto lower level governments. Thus, decentralization is seen as a solution to many different kinds of problems. This report examines the origins and implications decentralization from a political economy perspective, with a focus on its promise and limitations. It explores why countries have often chosen not to decentralize, even when evidence suggests that doing so would be in the interests of the government. It seeks to explain why since the early 1980s many countries have undertaken some form of decentralization. This report also evaluates the evidence to understand where decentralization has considerable promise and where it does not. It identifies conditions needed for decentralization to succeed. It identifies the ways in which decentralization can promote rural development. And it names the goals which decentralization will probably not help achieve.


Decentralization and Service Delivery

Decentralization and Service Delivery

Author:

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 29

ISBN-13:

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Dissatisfied with centralized approaches to delivering local public services, a large number of countries are decentralizing responsibility for these services to lower-level, locally elected governments. The results have been mixed. The paper provides a framework for evaluating the benefits and costs, in terms of service delivery, of different approaches to decentralization, based on relationships of accountability between different actors in the delivery chain. Moving from a model of central provision to that of decentralization to local governments introduces a new relationship of accountability-between national and local policymakers-while altering existing relationships, such as that between citizens and elected politicians. Only by examining how these relationships change can we understand why decentralization can, and sometimes cannot, lead to better service delivery. In particular, the various instruments of decentralization-fiscal, administrative, regulatory, market, and financial-can affect the incentives facing service providers, even though they relate only to local policymakers. Likewise, and perhaps more significantly, the incentives facing local and national politicians can have a profound effect on the provision of local services. Finally, the process of implementing decentralization can be as important as the design of the system in influencing service delivery outcomes.


Perspectives on Public Choice

Perspectives on Public Choice

Author: Dennis C. Mueller

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13: 9780521556545

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This five-part volume surveys the main ideas and contributions to the field of public choice.