Martinez-Vazquez and Vaillancourt (2011) Obstacles to Decentralisation: Lessons from the Developing World

Since World War II, the political map of the world has been influenced by three major ‘D' phenomena; decolonization in Africa and Asia; dissolution of states like Pakistan, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia; and the emergence of new decentralized states in lieu of centralized ones. Although less dramatic in political resonance, it is the last process that is most alive today and which is affecting the lives of many citizens because of its global reach and scale. Decentralization with fiscal and
political devolution has taken a stronghold in some European states such as Belgium, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, while other developed economies have also deepened their decentralized government structures in recent years, but the phenomenon of decentralization is mainly playing out in Africa, Asia, and Latin America at this time.

There are various reasons for these states to do this, responding to a variety of forces. Some may be of a political nature such as keeping a country together or, reacting to past centralized undemocratic regimes; others may be of a more economic nature such as replacing a failed economic model of which centralized socialism is a common example. Finally improving governance by making the public sector more efficient and accountable is also an explanation for the initiation of decentralization.....

Authors: Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Francois Vaillancourt

Date 2011

Read the full preface to their paper.