Download or read book Decentralization Democracy and Development in Africa written by Jan Erk and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Decentralization reforms introduced to Africa in the 1990s have not always delivered the intended long-term outcomes. This is a collection on the consequences of these reforms two decades on. In addition to general and comparative overviews, the book contains case studies on Ghana, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The common theme across the chapters is that the reforms seem to have engendered political consequences beyond decentralization itself – mostly through interaction with the broader historical, political, social, and economic context. The book thus speaks both to the scholarly literature (on decentralization, democratization, and development) and to the community of development practitioners. Most of the literature on decentralization and development emphasizes questions of institutional design and policy, but here the harder-to-pin-down political patterns marking the workings of decentralization are the main focus of analysis. The debates on development, through the case studies, are connected to the scholarly literatures on comparative federalism, comparative decentralization, and local democracy. The main conclusion that emerges from the studies in the book is that no magic formula that can turn countries into peaceful, stable, and prosperous democracies overnight exists. Furthermore, there are risks involved in importing formal institutions without regard to the local historical, political, social, and economic context. The chapters of this book were originally published as a special issue in Regional and Federal Studies.

Download or read book Decentralization in Africa written by James Tyler Dickovick and published by Lynne Rienner Pub. This book was released on 2014 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent decades laws passed by African governments to transfer power and resources to local and other subnational governments (SNGs) have been greeted by many in the policy community with enthusiasm. But how far has decentralization really gone in Africa? How well does it work? And what have been its consequences? The authors of Decentralization in Africa work within a common conceptual framework to examine the process in 10 countries contrasting clear increases in the legal authority of SNGs with the reality of limited successes in deepening democracy.

Download or read book Democracy and Decentralisation in South Asia and West Africa written by Richard C. Crook and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-12-03 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an in-depth empirical study of four Asian and African attempts to create democratic, decentralised local governments in the late 1980s and 1990s. The case studies of Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Karnataka (India) and Bangladesh focus upon the enhancement of participation; accountability between people, politicians and bureaucrats; and, most importantly, on whether governmental performance actually improved in comparison with previous forms of administration. The book is systematically comparative, and based upon extensive popular surveys and local field work. It makes an important contribution to current debates in the development literature on whether 'good governance' and decentralisation can provide more responsive and effective services for the mass of the population - the poor and disadvantaged who live in the rural areas.

Download or read book Decentralization and Constitutionalism in Africa written by Charles M. Fombad and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2019-09-10 with total page 673 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays assesses the efforts of African governments to constitutionalise decentralisation, be it in the form of federalism, local government or traditional authorities. Since the end of the Cold War jurisdictions across Africa have witnessed an ostensible return to multi-party democracy within the paradigm of constitutionalism and the rule of law. Linked to the democratisation process, many countries took steps to decentralize power by departing from the heavily centralized systems inherited from colonial regimes. The centralization of power, typically characterized by the personalization and concentration of power in the hands of leaders and privileged elites in capital cities, mostly resulted in repressive regimes and fragile states. As decentralisation is a response to these challenges, this volume analyses the dynamic relationship between the efforts to implement decentralization and presence or absence of constitutionalism. This volume examines a variety of forms and degrees of decentralization found across Africa. It advances a new understanding of trends and patterns and facilitates the exchange of ideas among African governments and scholars about the critical role that decentralisation may play in democratization of and constitutionalism in Africa.

Download or read book Decentralization and Reform in Africa written by Sylvain H. Boko and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I woke up at 3:30 on a steamy December morning at my hotel at McCarthy Hill, Accra, to prepare to take the early morning Vanef-STC bus operating on the Accra-Kumasi line. At 4am, the front desk called to inform me that I had requested a 3:45am wake-up time the night before. I figured a IS-minute tardiness is still within acceptable limits in Africa. Surprisingly, my bus left on time. Though it was filled to capacity (I could only find a seat in the middle row), the ride on "state transport" as it is called, was as smooth as it could be, given the dismal conditions of portions of the Accra-Kumasi road and the very loud local music emanating from the bus' speakers. As we drove through the lush forests of the Eastern Region, many thoughts crossed my mind regarding the effects of the current economic and democratic reforms (including decentralization) under way in the country, on the average person in Ghana. The bus company that I was patronizing, Vanef-STC, was itself a product of government divestiture from and privatization - an economic decentralization - of the previous State Transport Cooperation. I was informed that the perception by the users of "state transport" is that ever since the take-over by Vanef-STC, the quality of service has declined. This in tum was due to prolonged litigation by workers who felt that they had been wronged in the process of state divestiture.

Download or read book Federalism and Decentralization in Sub Saharan Africa written by Jan Erk and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-12-07 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1990s were marked by democratic reforms throughout Africa, which went in tandem with decentralization reforms. The chapters of the volume all highlight the gradual changes that have taken place since. Long-term structural uncodified factors – be it societal, economic, geographic, demographic – seem to have interacted with the constitutional clauses introduced during the reforms. Some chapters look at how decentralization slowly gave way to recentralization because none of the new subnational entities were politically and economically strong enough to balance off the center; some look at how inherent deficiencies in infrastructure and personnel at the subnational level brought the central government back in; some look at how different subnational units ended up working differently due to differences in demographic and social factors; some look at how uncodified factors came to determine how national politics functioned; some look at how decentralization created new conflicts between ethnic groups competing for the control of the new entities; some look at how decentralization blew new life into traditional authorities. This book was original published as a special issue of Regional and Federal Studies.

Download or read book Decentralisation in Africa written by Gordon Crawford and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Decentralisation in Afrika' is een sobere beoordeling van wat decentralisatie precies kan bereiken. Decentralisatie van overheden in Afrikaanse landen en elders in de derde wereld krijgt de laatste tijd een impuls, vaak gedreven door Multilaterale en bilaterale instanties (de 'donoren'). Maar worden de voordelen hiervan wel gerealiseerd? In dit boek worden vraagtekens gezet bij de kwestie of decentralisatie wel een gunstige uitweg biedt voor de armoede en het conflict in Afrika.

Download or read book Local Governance in Africa written by Dele Olowu and published by Lynne Rienner Publishers. This book was released on 2004 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration of why some decentralization reforms have led to viable systems of local governance in Africa, while others have failed. It outlines the key issues involved, provides historical context, and identifies the factors that have encouraged or discouraged success.

Download or read book Manipulating Political Decentralisation written by Lovise Aalen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-12 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can autocrats establish representative subnational governments? And which strategies of manipulation are available if they would like to reduce the uncertainty caused by introducing political decentralisation? In the wake of local government reforms, several states across the world have introduced legislation that provides for subnational elections. This does not mean that representative subnational governments in these countries are all of a certain standard. Political decentralisation should not be confused with democratisation, as the process is likely to be manipulated in ways that do not produce meaningful avenues for political participation and contestation locally. Using examples from Africa, Lovise Aalen and Ragnhild L. Muriaas propose five requirements for representative subnational governments and four strategies that national governments might use to manipulate the outcome of political decentralisation. The case studies of Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda illustrate why autocrats sometimes are more open to competition at the subnational level than democrats. Manipulating Political Decentralisation provides a new conceptual tool to assess representative subnational governments' quality, aiding us in building theories on the consequences of political decentralisation on democratisation.

Download or read book Decentralization and Local Democracy in the World written by United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2008-11-04 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: '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.

Download or read book African Perspectives on Reshaping Rural Development written by Mafukata, Mavhungu Abel and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-11-22 with total page 403 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Development studies in developing regions such as Southern Africa rely heavily on materials developed by Europeans with a European context. European dominance in development studies emanates from the fact that the discipline was first developed by Europeans. Some argue that this has led to distortions in theory and practice of development in Southern Africa. This book wishes to begin Africa’s expedition to develop proper material to de-Westernize while Africanizing the context of the scholarship of rural development. African Perspectives on Reshaping Rural Development is an essential reference source that repositions the context of rural development studies from the Western-centric knowledge system into an African context in order to solve African-centered problems. Featuring research on topics such as food security, poverty reduction, and community engagement, this book is ideally designed for planners, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, government officials, academicians, and students seeking clarity on theory and practice of development in Africa.

Download or read book Foundations for Local Governance written by Fumihiko Saito and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-01-15 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Successful reforms need coherent approaches in which a range of stakeholders are willing to share responsibilities and resources in order to achieve the ultimate outcome of poverty reduction in developing countries. This book provides a framework to access intended outcomes generated by decentralization measures implemented in Asian and African countries. It is based on comparative analyses of different experiences of decentralization measures in six developing countries.

Download or read book Decentralizing Governance written by G. Shabbir Cheema and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2007-08-01 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Brookings Institution Press and Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation publication The trend toward greater decentralization of governance activities, now accepted as commonplace in the West, has become a worldwide movement. This international development—largely a product of globalization and democratization—is clearly one of the key factors reshaping economic, political, and social conditions throughout the world. Rather than the top-down, centralized decisionmaking that characterized communist economies and Third World dictatorships in the twentieth century, today's world demands flexibility, adaptability, and the autonomy to bring those qualities to bear. In this thought-provoking book, the first in a new series on Innovations in Governance, experts in government and public management trace the evolution and performance of decentralization concepts, from the transfer of authority within government to the sharing of power, authority, and responsibilities among broader governance institutions. This movement is not limited to national government—it also affects subnational governments, NGOs, private corporations, and even civil associations. The contributors assess the emerging concepts of decentralization (e.g., devolution, empowerment, capacity building, and democratic governance). They detail the factors driving the movement, including political changes such as the fall of the Iron Curtain and the ascendance of democracy; economic factors such as globalization and outsourcing; and technological advances (e.g. increased information technology and electronic commerce). Their analysis covers many different contexts and regions. For example, William Ascher of Claremont McKenna College chronicles how decentralization concepts are playing out in natural resources policy, while Kadmeil Wekwete (United Nations) outlines the specific challenges to decentralizing governance in sub-Saharan Africa. In each case, contributors explore the objectives of a decentralizing strategy as well as the benefits and difficulties that will likely result.

Download or read book Decentralized Governance of Adaption to Climate Change in Africa written by Esbern Friis-Hansen and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Decentralization and Recentralization in the Developing World written by James Tyler Dickovick and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Examines decentralization and recentralization in the developing world, focusing on a comparison of Brazil and South Africa in the 1990s. Argues that decentralization follows declines in executive power, while subsequent recentralization is contingent upon presidents gaining exceptional governing opportunities, especially by resolving economic crises"--Provided by publisher.

Download or read book Decentralization Democratic Governance and Civil Society in Comparative Perspective written by Philip Oxhorn and published by . This book was released on 2004-05-19 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume studies the relation of decentralization to democratization at both intermediate and local levels and analyzes how decentralization is transforming the relationship between the state and civil society.

Download or read book African Decentralization written by Jesse Craig Ribot and published by Geneva : UNRISD. This book was released on 2002 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: