Decentralised Governance

Crafting Effective Democracies Around the World

Jean-Paul Faguet, Sarmistha Pal

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English

LSE Press
30 September 2023

Social welfare & social services; Public administration; Regional government policies

For developing countries, decentralising power from central government to local authorities holds the promise of deepening democracy, empowering citizens, improving public services and boosting economic growth. But the evidence on when and how decentralisation can bring these benefits has been mixed. Under the wrong conditions, decentralised power can be captured by unrepresentative elites or undermined by corruption and the clientelistic distribution of public resources. The picture is complex, and we still do not understand enough about what factors can contribute to creating better local government, and to what effect.

Decentralised Governance brings together a new generation of political economy studies that explore these questions analytically, blending theoretical insights with empirical innovation. Individual chapters provide fresh evidence from around the world, including broad cross-country data as well as detailed studies of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya and Colombia. They investigate the pros and cons of decentralisation in both democratic and autocratic regimes, and the effects of critical factors such as advances in technology, citizen-based data systems, political entrepreneurship in ethnically diverse societies, and reforms aimed at improving transparency and monitoring.

This wide-ranging volume examines the conditions under which devolving power can intensify democratic competition, boost transparency, and improve local governance, providing examples of good and bad practice in both. It is essential reading for researchers investigating decentralised governance, development and democratisation, and for policymakers and practitioners drawing lessons for future reforms.

Edited by: Jean-Paul Faguet, Sarmistha Pal
Imprint: LSE Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
ISBN: 9781909890848
ISBN 10: 1909890847
Pages: 390
Publication Date: 30 September 2023
Audience: College/higher education , Adult education , Professional and scholarly , Further / Higher Education , Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Jean-Paul Faguet is Professor of Political Economy of Development, Department of International Development, London school of Economics. He is the Co-Programme Director of the MSc in Development Management. He is also Chair of the Decentralization Task Force at Columbia University's Initiative for Policy Dialogue. He works at the frontier between economics and political science, using quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the institutions and organizational forms that underpin development transformations. He has published in the economics, political science, and development literatures, including Is Decentralization Good for Development? Perspectives from Academics and Policymakers (Oxford, 2015), and Governance from Below: Decentralization and Popular Democracy in Bolivia (Michigan), which won the W.J.M. Mackenzie Prize for best political science book of 2012. Sarmistha Pal is professor of financial economics at the University of Surrey. In the past, she served as a research fellow at the Department of Applied Economics, University of Cambridge, research affiliate at the Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford, and also a Leverhulme research fellow in the United Kingdom. Currently, she works as a research fellow at the IZA- Institute of Labour Economics in Bonn (Germany), and is also an academic member of the European Corporate Governance Institute. Additionally, she serves as an editorial board member for the Journal of Development Studies. Pal's research primarily focuses on public finance, public policy, institutions, and political economy, with a particular emphasis on emerging economies. As an applied economist, she conducts empirical analysis to examine the impact of various laws, social policies, corporate practices, as well as public policies on economic outcomes for different entities such as individuals, households, firms, banks, and communities. She employs various quasi-experimental methods in her research.

Reviews for Decentralised Governance: Crafting Effective Democracies Around the World

"""Decentralization as a way of improving quality of governance and delivery of public services is widely recognised. Yet the experience in its actual performance has been mixed particularly in developing countries. This book sifts through the diversity of experience in the context of several developing countries and points to the need for recognizing the diffuseness of the question often asked in studying such a governance reform and the necessarily multi-layered nature of the answers one should look for, both on the positive and negative aspects of such a policy change. This book provides a major step in our understanding the nuances and complexities of the subject, utilises both political and mechanism design insights, and guides us to valuable tools in reforming our beleaguered systems of political accountability."" - Pranab Bardhan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Economics, University of California, Berkeley ""An essential and long-awaited book on the effects of decentralisation in developing countries from a comparative perspective. Its reading will help to understand the complexity of decentralised governance and the importance of the role of political, social and cultural variables. It is a must-read for researchers, practitioners and anyone interested in the complexity of policy-making around the world."" - José M. Ruano, Director of the Complutense School of Government, Complutense University of Madrid and Editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Decentralisation in Europe ""Decentralisation has often been hailed as a panacea for development. However, if not implemented effectively, it can fail to deliver on its promise. This book edited by Faguet and Pal provides -using a wealth of cases covering many parts of the emerging world- the necessary guidance to harness the potential of decentralisation while sidestepping its drawbacks. A must read."" - Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Princesa de Asturias Chair, London School of Economics."