Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing Countries: A Comparative Perspective

375 Pages·2006·1.403 MB·English

by  Pranab Bardhan, Dilip Mookherjee

edited by Pranab Bardhan
and Dilip Mookherjee
Decentralization
and Local Governance in
Developing Countries
A Comparative Perspective
Decentralization and Local
Governance in Developing
Countries

Decentralization and Local
Governance in Developing
Countries
A Comparative Perspective
EditedbyPranabBardhanand
DilipMookherjee
TheMITPress
Cambridge,Massachusetts
London,England
(2006MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Allrightsreserved.Nopart of thisbookmay bereproducedin anyformbyanyelec-
tronicormechanicalmeans(includingphotocopying,recording,orinformationstorage
andretrieval)withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
MIT Press books may be purchased at special quantity discounts for business or sales
promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail] or
writetoSpecialSalesDepartment,TheMITPress,55HaywardStreet,Cambridge,MA
02142.
ThisbookwassetinPalatinoon3B2byAscoTypesetters,HongKong,andwasprinted
andboundintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Decentralizationandlocalgovernanceindevelopingcountries:acomparative
perspective/editedbyPranabBardhanandDilipMookherjee.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-100-262-02600-7—ISBN-13978-0-262-02600-0(hc:alk.paper)
ISBN-100-262-52454-6—ISBN-13978-0-262-52454-4(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Decentralizationingovernment—Developingcountries. 2.Localgovernment—
Developingcountries. 3.Developingcountries—Politicsandgovernment.
4.Comparativegovernment. I.Bardhan,PranabK. II.Mookherjee,Dilip.
JF60.D43 2006
320.80917204—dc22 2005058425
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface vii
1 TheRiseofLocalGovernments:AnOverview 1
PranabBardhanandDilipMookherjee
2 InequalityandInnovation:DecentralizationasanOpportunity
StructureinBrazil 53
GianpaoloBaiocchi
3 Decentralization,DemocraticTransition,andLocalGovernance
inIndonesia 81
BertHofmanandKaiKaiser
4 DecentralizingBolivia:LocalGovernmentintheJungle 125
Jean-PaulFaguet
5 WhatDifferenceDoesaConstitutionalAmendmentMake?The
1994PanchayatiRajActandtheAttempttoRevitalizeRural
LocalGovernmentinIndia 153
ShubhamChaudhuri
6 DecentralizationinWestBengal:Origins,Functioning,and
Impact 203
PranabBardhanandDilipMookherjee
7 DecentralizationinUganda 223
OmarAzfar,JeffreyLivingston,andPatrickMeagher
vi Contents
8 LocalGovernmentReforminPakistan:Context,Content,and
Causes 257
AliCheema,AsimIjazKhwaja,andAdnanQadir
9 DecentralizationinPakistan:AreLocalGovernmentsLikelyto
BeMoreAccountableThanCentralGovernment? 285
PhilipE.Keefer,AmbarNarayan,andTaraVishwanath
10 DecentralizationandLocalGovernanceinChina’sEconomic
Transition 305
JustinYifuLin,RanTao,andMingxingLiu
11 DecentralizationinSouthAfrica 329
MartinWittenberg
ListofContributors 357
Index 359
Preface
This book emerged from our growing awareness that social scientists
know relatively little about a contemporary trend to devolve political
and economic power to local governments throughout the develop-
ing world. While some academic studies of the impact of decentral-
ization in particular contexts have appeared recently, a comparative
perspective on this institutional transformation has not been available.
We therefore organized a conference and invited experts involved in
development as academics or policy practitioners from a number of
different countries that have embarked on significant devolution ini-
tiatives to describe these experiences in some detail. The May 2003
conference was funded by the MacArthur Foundation Network on In-
equality and Economic Performance and was hosted by the Suntory
Toyota International Centre for Economics and Related Disciplines
(STICERD) at the London School of Economics. We are grateful to the
MacArthur Foundation and STICERD for their generous support. In
particular, we would like to thank Sam Bowles of the Macarthur
Foundation Network on Inequality and Economic Performance for his
encouragement and Tim Besley and Kate Perry of STICERD for being
suchgracioushosts.
Special acknowledgments are due to the discussants of the papers
presented at the conference: Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Bhaskar
Dutta, Maitreesh Ghatak, Geeta Kingdon, James Manor, Paul Sea-
bright, and Chengang Xu, whose comments generated useful discus-
sion and helped the authors revise their chapters. Patricia Meirelles
and Catherine Rodriguez provided substantial research assistance to
us in our writing the introductory chapter and with the editing and
preparation of the entire manuscript. Without their help, this book
wouldnothavebeenpossible.
PranabBardhanandDilipMookherjee

Decentralization and Local
Governance in Developing
Countries