Decentralization and Governance

Decentralization and Governance

The most important theoretical argument concerning decentralization is that it can improve governance by making government more accountable and responsive to the governed. Improving governance is also central to the motivations of real-world reformers, who bear risks and costs in the interest of devolution. But the literature has mostly focused instead on policy-relevant outcomes, such as educa...

Decentralization of Governance and Development

A ll around the world in matters of governance, decentralization is the rage. Even apart from the widely debated issues of subsidiarity and devolution in the European Union and states’ rights in the United States, decentralization has been at the center stage of policy experiments in the last two decades in a large number of developing and transition economies in Latin America, Africa and Asia....

Decentralization in Wikipedia Governance

How does “self-governance” happen in Wikipedia? Through in-depth interviews with twenty individuals who have held a variety of responsibilities in the English-language Wikipedia, we obtained rich descriptions of how various forces produce and regulate social structures on the site. Our analysis describes Wikipedia as an organization with highly refined policies, norms, and a technological archi...

Some Remarks on Fiscal Decentralization and Governance

It is a great honor for me to participate in this conference. During my presentation, I would like to focus on the links between decentralization and governance. My remarks are based on my experience as a World Bank economist providing policy advice to countries of Eastern Europe, in particular Hungary. Furthermore I will draw on recent research on decentralization in which I participated (Deth...

Decentralization and Sub-National Governance: New Methodological Issues and Evidence