Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Foreword 1
- Foreword 2
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Decentralization: Cross-country Experiences
- 3 Thinking about Decentralization in India: 73rd Amendment and Beyond
- 4 Literature
- 5 An Overview of the Data
- 6 Analytical Approaches and Econometric Methods Used
- 7 Can Panchayats Improve the Quality of Services? Some Qualitative Evidence
- 8 Impact of Political Reservations for Women in Panchayats
- 9 Importance of Individual Empowerment of Women
- 10 Governance, Service Provision and Development Outcomes
- 11 The Impact of Fiscal Grants on Tax Efforts of Village Panchayats
- 12 Incidence of Identity-based Voting and Bribes in Panchayats
- 13 Panchayats and Household Vulnerability
- 14 Key Findings, Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
- References
- Index
- About the Authors
2 - Decentralization: Cross-country Experiences
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 November 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- Foreword 1
- Foreword 2
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Decentralization: Cross-country Experiences
- 3 Thinking about Decentralization in India: 73rd Amendment and Beyond
- 4 Literature
- 5 An Overview of the Data
- 6 Analytical Approaches and Econometric Methods Used
- 7 Can Panchayats Improve the Quality of Services? Some Qualitative Evidence
- 8 Impact of Political Reservations for Women in Panchayats
- 9 Importance of Individual Empowerment of Women
- 10 Governance, Service Provision and Development Outcomes
- 11 The Impact of Fiscal Grants on Tax Efforts of Village Panchayats
- 12 Incidence of Identity-based Voting and Bribes in Panchayats
- 13 Panchayats and Household Vulnerability
- 14 Key Findings, Conclusions and Policy Recommendations
- References
- Index
- About the Authors
Summary
Introduction
Why should a study of decentralization and its attendant outcomes be taken up? Decentralization and devolution of powers to local governments has been adopted as a development strategy in many countries worldwide. However, it is not merely the sheer number of countries using decentralization as a development strategy that makes it an important reform for comprehensive analysis, rather the systemic change that is expected to be brought about in governance – making it more participatory, transparent and accountable to citizens, which makes it a reform measure worthy of detailed examination. Decentralization is viewed both as a strategy and as a system for bringing about economic development.
Decentralization, as is generally understood, implies devolution of powers to local bodies that are legally separated from the Central government. These local bodies are headed by representatives who are elected by a formally constituted electoral process. These elected representatives are, in turn, vested with powers whose jurisdiction is limited to the geographic boundary of the local body and have been vested with legally guaranteed provisions to make decisions and make use of various financial resources.
The principle of subsidiarity is central to the discussion on decentralization. This is evident in a quote from Tocqueville (1945):
Decentralization has, not only an administrative value, but also a civic dimension, since it increases the opportunities for citizens to take interest in public affairs; it makes them get accustomed to using freedom. And from the accumulation of these local, active, persnickety freedoms, is born the most efficient counterweight against the claims of the central government, even if it were supported by an impersonal, collective will.
Reid Buckley (2008) goes a step further and asks:
Will we never heed the principle of subsidiarity (in which our fathers were bred), namely that no public agency should do what a private agency can do better, and that no higher-level public agency should attempt to do what a lower-level agency can do better – that to the degree the principle of subsidiarity is violated, first local government, the state government, and then federal government wax in inefficiency?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Decentralization and Empowerment for Rural Development , pp. 10 - 38Publisher: Foundation BooksPrint publication year: 2014