Decentralized Governance and Accountability

Academic Research and the Future of Donor Programming

Jonathan A. Rodden, Erik Wibbels

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781108572644
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

At the end of the twentieth century, academics and policymakers welcomed a trend toward fiscal and political decentralization as part of a potential solution for slow economic growth and poor performance by insulated, unaccountable governments. For the last two decades, researchers have been trying to answer a series of vexing questions about the political economy of multi-layered governance. Much of the best recent research on decentralization has come from close collaborations between university researchers and international aid institutions. As the volume and quality of this collaborative research have increased in recent decades, the time has come to review the lessons from this literature and apply them to debates about future programming. In this volume, the contributors place this research in the broader history of engagement between aid institutions and academics, particularly in the area of decentralized governance, and outline the challenges and opportunities to link evidence and policy action.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Introduction
• 2 The Social Underpinnings of Decentralized Governance: Networks, Technology, and the Future of Social Accountability
• 3 Leadership Selection Rules and Decentralized Governance
• 4 Traditional Leaders, Service Delivery, and Electoral Accountability
• 5 Decentralized Rule and Revenue
• 6 The Proliferation of Decentralized Governing Units
• 7 Decentralization and Business Performance
• 8 Decentralization and Urban Governance in the Developing World: Experiences to Date and Avenues for Future Research
• 9 Decentralization in Post-Conflict Settings: Assessing Community-Driven Development in the Wake of Violence
• 10 Clientelism in Decentralized States
• 11 Decentralization and Ethnic Diversity
• 12 From Decentralization Research to Policy and Programs: A Practical Postscript
• Index