Decentralization, Democratic Governance, and Civil Society in Comparative Perspective: Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Woodrow Wilson Center Press) [Hardcover]

Philip Oxhorn (Editor), Joseph S. Tulchin (Editor), Andrew Selee (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2004 | Series: Woodrow Wilson Center Press

Decentralization, Democratic Governance, and Civil Society in Comparative Perspective 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. This book presents case studies from six countries in three continents in which decentralization of some parts of government has been attempted: Mexico, Chile, South Africa, Kenya, the Philippines, and Indonesia.

The work surveys a range of issues in decentralization: which actors in each country have been most responsible for initiating and sustaining decentralization; how much decentralization to regional and local authorities has transformed the state; and whether stronger local governments produce greater accountability to citizens. The final chapter by Tulchin and Selee draws conclusions on these issues based on the case studies, while the introduction by Philip Oxhorn lays a theoretical foundation for understanding the relationship between decentralization and democracy.

(2007)

Editorial Reviews

Review

This is a first-rate book. It consists of well-researched and well-written case studies that contain plenty of useful new information. The comparative sections of the text are quite solid and enlightening.

(James Manor, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex 2005)

This volume examines the effects of decentralization on citizen-state relationships in the developing world.

(Choice )

It deserves to be read and pondered.

(Garth N. Jones Journal of Third World Studies )

Provides important insights... will be of much interest to South Asian policy-makers and academics in the area of public administration.

(Abdullah Al Faruque South Asia Research )

About the Author

Philip Oxhorn is a professor of political science and associate dean at McGill University. Joseph S. Tulchin is director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and Andrew D. Selee is director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center.

(2007)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Woodrow Wilson Center Press (May 19, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801879191
• ISBN-13: 978-0801879197
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Selee is director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute. He also an adjunct professor of Government at Johns Hopkins University, Advanced Academic Programs.

He moved to Tijuana, Mexico shortly after graduating from Washington University in 1991 and lived there until 1997, working with the Mexican YMCA on development programs with low-income youth and children and with migrant youth. After completing an MA in Latin American Studies at UCSD in 1999, he moved back home to Washington, DC and worked for San Diego Congressman Bob Filner. In 2000, he joined the Wilson Center's Latin American Program, and in 2003 started the Mexico Institute, which is now the leading program on US-Mexico policy in Washington. He received a doctorate in Policy Studies from the University of Maryland in 2006.

Selee writes frequently about US-Mexico relations, Mexican politics, US immigration policy, and decentralization and local government around the world. He is also quoted widely in the press, including interviews for NPR, PBS, CBS, NBC, Fox News, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and many others. In addition to his books, he is the co-editor of Shared Responsibility: U.S.-Mexico Strategies for Confronting Organized Crime and co-author of Context Matters: Latino and Civic Political Engagement in Nine U.S. Cities, both published by the Wilson Center.

He is a member of the board of the US-Mexico Fulbright Commission (Comexus) in Mexico City, the editorial board of El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (COLEF) in Tijuana, and the board of ImmigrationWorks in Washington, DC. He served on the Council on Foreign Relations' Task Force on Immigration and his co-director of the Migration Policy Institute/Wilson Center Study Group on Regional Migration. He served for five years on the National Board of the YMCA of the USA, the largest youth-serving organization in the United States, and remains active on its international committee.

Selee lives in the Washington, DC neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant with his wife Alejandra Vallejo and his daughter Lucia, a dual citizen of the United States and Mexico.