Enormous change and innovation in governmental practices are occurring throughout the world. Local governance, in particular, has become a concern in many countries. Processes such as redemocratization and decentralization and imperatives of international lending agencies have focused attention on developing good governance practices. Improvement in local government remains a high priority in m...

The traditional view of local politics and government in the Philippines is not flattering: elected officials are personalistic faction leaders (or worse, bosses or warlords) interested in parlaying their personal wealth and power rather than promoting good governance. Thus, it could be argued that decentralization by shifting power away from a reforming center to powerful irresponsible local p...

This paper contrasts decentralization in Hungary, one of the most decentralized countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and in Slovakia, one of the least decentralized, during the decade of transition from socialism to market. It also draws lessons based on this experience. Has decentralization been effective? Has decentralization improved the delivery of essential services? Has it promoted ef...

This paper reviews the background, rationale, and prospects for India's recent reforms in the structures of local government. It begins by commenting on some dimensions of governance, and why it is useful to focus on decentralization, especially in the current Indian context. Then some of the theoretical arguments on federalism as an important mechanism for decentralization, as well as India's ...

Bolivia’s recent decentralization involved the creation of hundreds of new municipalities, devolution of substantial resources from central agencies to local governments, and the development of innovative institutions of local governance. Detailed study of investment sector-by-sector shows that objective indicators of need are the most important determinants of the changes in investment pattern...

2 See, e.g., Stephen Deane, The ISS Institute for Corporate Governance, Majority Voting in Director Elections: From the Symbolic to the Democratic, at 1 (noting that advocates who favor majority voting in director elections view the issue as a “question of democratic principle” and, if implemented, majority voting “would transform the current symbolic process, in which shareholders can withhold...

This paper describes and analyses distinct patterns of 'governance conversation' observed in interactions on a discussion list that aims to support local, direct, governance in a geographically colocated community in South Africa. Although each pattern relates to governance, making 'binding decisions', which has been seen as a key attribute of deliberative democratic processes, is almost entire...