Development Centre Seminars Democracy Decentralisation And Deficits In Latin America

What is the impact of political decentralisation in Latin America? This book considers the problems raised by political decentralisation in the region and identifies the challenges ahead. Political decentralisation tends to devolve a certain amount ...

Fiscal institutions, fiscal performance, electoral institutions, budget, decentralisation, macroeconomic stability, federalism, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Bolivia.

This collection of experiences of fiscal decentralisation across a wide range of OECD-Member and non-member economies reveals lessons which are equally of relevance to both groups of countries.

Nearly all countries worldwide are now experimenting with decentralization. Their motivation are diverse. Many countries are decentralizing because they believe this can help stimulate economic growth or reduce rural poverty, goals central government interventions have failed to achieve. Some countries see it as a way to strengthen civil society and deepen democracy. Some perceive it as a way to off-load expensive responsibilities onto lower level governments. Thus, decentralization is seen as a solution to many different kinds of problems. This report examines the origins and implications decentralization from a political economy perspective, with a focus on its promise and limitations. It explores why countries have often chosen not to decentralize, even when evidence suggests that doing so would be in the interests of the government. It seeks to explain why since the early 1980s many countries have undertaken some form of decentralization. This report also evaluates the evidence to understand where decentralization has considerable promise and where it does not. It identifies conditions needed for decentralization to succeed. It identifies the ways in which decentralization can promote rural development. And it names the goals which decentralization will probably not help achieve.

Focusing on democratization, flexibilization, ethnic diversity and restructuring of transitional and emerging states, this volume analyzes the changes and challenges for administrative structures at the beginning of the 21st century, from a geographical perspective. A team of leading scholars from throughout the world provides a differentiated spatial overview of key problems currently faced in public administration. By offering a wide range of regional case studies from Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the book tests current theories and concepts of government and governance, space and place, and society and community. In doing so, it offers valuable insights and makes policy implications.

This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. It focuses on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money.