Pdf decentralization is a word that has been used by different people to mean a good many different things. Democratic decentralization independent evaluation group. This official power transfer can take two main forms. In what follows, we consider the main elements of the cdf, discussing in each case the utility and limitations of democratic decentralization. The three major forms of administrative decentralization deconcentration, delegation, and devolution each have different characteristics. The 2010 constitution renewed the angolan states commitment to such a process, and the president of. More local decisions can be made which reflect different conditions the managers who take decisions will have local knowledge and are likely to have closer contact with consumers. Lessons learned on donor support to decentralisation and. The procedure of grouping of activities into units with the end goal of organization is called departmentation. Preliminaries the analysis of the public administration in our country, in point of decentralisation requires the detailing of aspects of this phenomenon, considering the current reform process of the public administration in romania, the passage from a strongly centralised structure of.
The role of political parties at the local government level. Supporting decentralisation and local governance in. In a unitary state, the head tax does not distort economic decisions. Decentralisation, local development and social cohesion. Eu policy documents recognise the critical importance of good governance at the local level. For the problem of decentralizing government activities, mobility across regions is a critical factor. The lesson has many fun and clear examples and the differing pros and cons of both centralisation and decentralisation. But definitions of democracy are evolving and no consensus exists on the nature and meaning of participation, stakeholder representation or inclusive decisionmaking in practice. Abstract empowerment is the most recent policy approach to women in development. Concept of democratic decentralization panchayat raj system and historical perspective of local government, balwantrai mehta committee report and 73rd amendment of constitution 2. Concept paper on decentralisation decentralisation and local self. Return to article details decentralisation in developing countries. The concept of democratic decentralization decentralization is the process of redistributing or dispersing functions, powers, people or things away from a central.
Democratic decentralisation, clientelism and local taxation in ghana richard c. Decentralisation decade institute for public policy research. The details of decentralisation and local government differ in every co untry. This happens, for example, when decentralized government is captured by corrupt non. Political decentralization aims to give citizens or their elected representatives more power in public decisionmaking. Decentralisation as a rural development strategy in. Recently, however, some criticism has begun to arise which opens up a. Decentralisation of health systems h orizontal imbalance is the term used for resource inequities between geographic areas districts or local authorities usually because of. The expected benefits of democratic decentralization within forestry are rarely realized. Decentralisation is too difficult and complex the proper geography of local decisionmaking is complex and requires action at different tiers, some of which are overlapping and contested. The lesson aims to explain the clear difference between centralised and decentralised businesses. Pdf efforts to promote popular participation in forest management in subsaharan. Decentralisation is just opposite to centralisation but centralisation and decentralisation are mutually dependent in a large organisation.
The 2010 constitution renewed the angolan states commitment to such a process, and the president of the republic recently recognised the unquestionable. Situating decentralisation in zambia in a political context. Decentralisation must be underpinned by new legislation to strengthen the constitutional status of local government and its other subnational partners, similar to the scotland and wales acts. Definitions and descriptions of decentralization used in the papers include. This relation may vary from one country to another country, as we may notice that decentralisation has become an increasingly widespread and significant dimension of political and. Structure and structure and organisation are affected by t he historical, social and political co ntext. Decentralisation is usually referred to as the transfer of powers from central government to lower levels in a politicaladministrative and territorial hierarchy crook and manor 1998, agrawal and ribot 1999.
According to many scholars in the field, the erstwhile attempts of decentralisation were aimed at only distributing administrative responsibilities to different levels of government. This wide implementation of decentralisation had led to different models of decentralisation focusing on decentralisation of power and decisionmaking processes concerning organisation of. State of affairs and perspectives introduction decentralisation, as a formula for territorial organisation, has not been subjected to much scrutiny during its first period of growth. Types of decentralization include political, administrative, fiscal, and market decentralization. Decentralisation, centralisation and devolution in. Concept paper decentralisation processes at a crossroads. The premise of departmentation, departmentaion is by numbers, time of duty, function, procedure or equipment, location or territory, product, customer, business sector or distribution channel, service, clients. Democratic decentralisation, clientelism and local. Today, around 23 of sdcs country programmes include a support to local governance andor decentralisation.
Arguments for democratic decentralisation in angola. Educational decentralization and school governance in south africa. The undp role in decentralization and local governance vi foreword undp and the german federal ministry for economic cooperation and development bmz collaborated on a critical assessment of undp support to decentralization and local governance. A global perspective as scores of countries have introduced plans to devolve powers and resources from central to subnational governments in recent. The political economy of democratic decentralization english the. I would like to thank the united nations development programme and the german federal. We may preliminary accede to the view that there is often a close connection between decentralisation and democracy, though not necessarily a causal one. Political, administrative, fiscal and market decentralization can also appear in different forms and combinations across countries, within countries and even within sectors. The undp role in decentralization and local governance viii executive summary context over the past decade, governance has become a major field of international development cooperation. Decentralization key issues, major trends and future. With the german government having evaluated its own decentralization projects in countries. Abstract it is generally assumed by advocates of democratic decentralisation that maximising locallyraised revenue sources will help to enhance accountability through a closer and more legitimate relationship between the local government authority and citizens. This can be illustrated by considering the use of a head tax.
Ribot unrisd united nations research institute for social development unrisd programme on democracy, governance and human rights paper number 8 december 2002. Pdf postapartheid south africa embarked on an important democratization. The political economy of democratic decentralization english. Greater political decentralization might make governments more honest and efficient by bringing officials closer to the people, forcing them to compete for mobile. By the end of this article, you will concur with me that administrative decentralization is the best system of governance that south sudan governance should implement fully. Most of african countries are committed for over a decade in decentralization reforms that promote better management of local public affairs. It takes into account not only both the practical and strategic gender needs of women but also recognizes their triple role in development. Decentralization is a complex phenomenon involving many geographic entities, societal actors and social sectors. Concept paper on decentralisation and local governance 2 1. A clear case for relocating an office needs to be demonstrated and clearly enunciated to the public in an open and transparent. Educational decentralization and school governance in. Geographers and planners discussing spatial decentralisation focus on reducing concentration in urban areas by promoting regional growth poles.
Decentralisation proposals need to be strategically planned and well managed. One of the arguments of why democracy is stagnant or even in retreat is the. Oct 28, 2016 concept of democratic decentralization panchayat raj system and historical perspective of local government, balwantrai mehta committee report and 73rd amendment of constitution 2. Both bilateral and multilateral aid programmes can now look back on a great deal of. Development of managerial personnel through exposure which provides the opportunity to grow. Decentralization of governance and development pranab bardhan a ll around the world in matters of governance, decentralization is the rage. Is democratic decentralization compatible with traditional authorities chiefs of. Most of african countries are committed for over a decade in decentralization reforms that promote better management of. If parties are serious about decentralisation they will need to. Deconcentration which is often considered to be the weakest form of decentralization. Decentralisation and service delivery research on decentralisation and service delivery. However, the same word is often used to describe different things. What is the difference between decentralisation, delegation.
Ec policy documents on decentralisation and local governance. Decentralisation is a political process that involves changes in the governance system of the country and the power relationships between central and local governments councils or local authorities. The implementation of decentralisation reforms can be traced back to the 1960s and were widely implemented in many countries in the 1980s zajda, 2004. Assumptions about the effects of decentralisation on a range of issues, including organisational performance, are incorporated into policy without reference to whether evidence or theory supports such an approach. Pdf democratic decentralization in subsaharan africa. Academics and experts are still at the stage of clarifying links between decentralisation, service delivery, economic development and social cohesion, and sufficient. Advantages of centralisation advantages of decentralisation a fixed set of rules and procedures in all areas of the firm should lead to rapid decisionmaking. Decentralisation as a rural development strategy in zimbabwe. Decentralization and governance jeanpaul faguet the suntory centre suntory and toyota international centres for economics and related disciplines london school of economics and political science houghton street london wc2a 2ae eopp201127 tel. Decentralization key issues, major trends and future developments a intergovernmental processes, i. Centralization is the procedure by which the exercises of an association.
Democratic decentralization can be an extremely useful part of the enabling environmentfacilitating many of the goals of the comprehensive development framework cdf. Mukwena cpst university of namibia 2 introduction when decentralisation is undertaken governments usually state that the major reason for administrative reorganisation is to improve administrative performance. Decentralisation, centralisation and devolution in publicly. Thirteen principles of decentralisation adopted by cabinet, the government has accepted decentralisation as a governance system. This united nations research institute for social development unrisd programme paper has been prepared with. Delegation and decentralisation of authority business. Democracy is a contested concept and needs to be understood contextually if one is to understand the democratization process and avoid misinterpretation and malpractices. Dclg is publishing this report in the interests of transparency.
Let me give you brief background of decentralization as a whole so that some of my readers who are not well conversant. Decentralisation in publicly funded health services nccsdo 200 6 9 evidence on decentralisation and organisational performance decentralisation is not a completely discrete area of research and more attention needs to be paid to how it is utilised as a concept in future practice, policy and research. Situating decentralisation in zambia in a political context dr. Pdf democratic decentralisation and traditional authority. But although there has been a gradual progress on devolution, not much has been done to further enshrine the principles into a coherent policy to guide the devolution process throughout the whole of government. It is hoped that these and other findings and lessons learned contained in this study will provide a sound basis on which further progress can be achieved. Concept of democratic decentralization linkedin slideshare. Deconcentration and devolutionproblem of sequencing 67. Introduction sdc has been implementing projects in support to decentralisation and local governance for about 15 years. Jul 24, 2016 the three major forms of administrative decentralization deconcentration, delegation, and devolution each have different characteristics. Different types of decentralization should be distinguished because they have different characteristics, policy implications, and conditions for success. The political economy of democratic decentralization.
Even apart from the widely debated issues of subsidiarity and devolution in the european union and states rights in the united states, decentraliza. Decentralization program in sierra leone, there has been a well planned mechanism for advancing the process in the political, administrative, functional, and fiscal areas. Decentralisation in and of itself, should not be the motivating factor in moving a government service. Kennedy school of government, harvard university, 2007. The paper considers a number of elements required for democratic decentralization to work. Decentralization and the quality of government how does the degree of political decentralization in a country affect the quality of its government.
1113 102 1456 494 736 1394 742 1378 1225 488 727 673 1365 821 279 380 691 1086 971 315 413 238 906 930 866 413 1147 441 1185 1271 400 666 1304 544 1398 589 599 1493 1357 1142 161 382 1255 715 843 857 1450 180 1157