Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries: A Comparative Perspective [Paperback]

Dilip Mookherjee (Editor), Pranab Bardhan (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 2006

Over the past three decades the developing world has seen increasing devolution of political and economic power to local governments. Decentralization is considered an important element of participatory democracy and, along with privatization and deregulation, represents a substantial reduction in the authority of national governments over economic policy. The contributors to Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries examine this institutional transformation from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, offering detailed case studies of decentralization in eight countries: Bolivia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, South Africa, and Uganda.Some of these countries witnessed an unprecedented "big bang" shift toward comprehensive political and economic decentralization: Bolivia in 1995 and Indonesia after the fall of Suharto in 1998. Brazil and India decentralized in an uneven and more gradual manner. In some other countries (such as Pakistan) devolution represented an instrument for consolidation of power of a nondemocratic national government. In China local governments were granted much economic but little political power. South Africa made the transition from the undemocratic decentralization of apartheid to decentralization under a democratic constitution. The studies provide a comparative perspective on the political and economic context within which decentralization took place, and how this shaped its design and possible impact.Contributors:Omar Azfar, Gianpaolo Baiocchi, Pranab Bardhan, Shubham Chaudhuri, Ali Cheema, Jean-Paul Faguet, Bert Hofman, Kai Kaiser, Philip E. Keefer, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Justin Yifu Lin, Mingxing Liu, Jeffrey Livingston, Patrick Meagher, Dilip Mookherjee, Ambar Narayan, Adnan Qadir, Ran Tao, Tara Vishwanath, Martin Wittenberg

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Although Bardhan and Mookherjee are economists, they understand that decentralization is fundamentally a political and socialtransformation. Their volume begins to challenge artificial disciplinary boundaries that have long impeded better conceptual and empirical analysis of decentralization in developing countries."--Paul Smoke, Associate Professor and Director of International Programs, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University

"This book is an excellent addition to the literature on decentralisation...readers will find the book both interesting and easy reading because of its clear and informative presentation." Abdurohman Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies

About the Author

Dilip Mookherjee is Professor of Economics at Boston University. He is the author most recently of The Crisis in Government Accountability: Governance Reforms and Indian Economic Performance.

Product Details

• Paperback: 394 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (June 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262524546
• ISBN-13: 978-0262524544
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,446,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many study case, February 18, 2011

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dy_arik - See all my reviews

This review is from: Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries: A Comparative Perspective (Paperback)

This book is good especially for those who interested on decentralization. This book gives many study case from other countries.