Public Sector Reform in Developing and Transitional Countries: Decentralisation and Local Governance

by Christopher Rees (Editor), Farhad Hossain (Editor)

Overview

Over recent decades, decentralization has emerged as a key Public Sector Reform strategy in a wide variety of international contexts. Yet, despite its emergence as a ubiquitous activity that cuts across disciplinary lines in international development, decentralization is understood and applied in many different ways by parties acting from contrary perspectives.

This book offers a fascinating insight into theory and practice surrounding decentralization activities in the Public Sectors of developing and transitional countries. In drawing on the expertise of established scholars, the book explores the contexts, achievements, progress and challenges of decentralization and local governance. Notably, the contributions contained in this book are genuinely international in nature; the chapters explore aspects of decentralization and local governance in contexts as diverse as Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Tanzania, Uganda, and Viet Nam. In summary, by examining the subject of decentralization with reference to specific developing and transitional Public Sector contexts in which it has been practiced, this book offers an excellent contribution towards a better understanding of the theory and practice of decentralization and local governance in international settings.

This book was published as a special double issue of the International Journal of Public Administration.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415623445
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/17/2012
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	8.62(w) x 10.88(h) x (d)

About the Author

Christopher J. Rees is a Senior Lecturer in Organisational Change and Development at the Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, UK, where he co-direct the Centre for Organisations in Development.

Farhad Hossain is a Lecturer in Development Management at the Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, UK, where he coordinates the PhD Programme in Development Policy and Management.

Table of Contents

1. Perspectives on Decentralization and Local Governance in Developing and Transitional Countries 2. Digitized Government in Worldwide Municipalities between 2003 and 2007 3. Choosing between Centralized and Decentralized Models of Tax Administration 4. The Past, Present, and Future of Decentralisation in Africa: A Comparative Case Study of Local Government Development Trajectories of Ghana and Uganda 5. Challenges of Making Donor-Driven Public Sector Reform in Sub-Saharan Africa Sustainable: Some Experiences from Ghana 6. Indonesian Decentralization: Accountability Deferred 7. Decentralization and Local Governance in Kazakhstan 8. Decentralizing Local Governance in Thailand: Contemporary Trends and Challenges 9. Is Decentralization Still Recentralization? The Local Government Reform Programme in Tanzania 10. An Analysis of Quasi-Decentralized Budgeting in Vietnam 11. Decentralization and ‘Consumerization’ of the Training Function: The ‘Re-invention’ of the Central Training Institute of Hong Kong 12. Local Government Reform Programs and Human Resource Capacity Building in Africa: Evidence from Local Government Authorities (LGAs) in Tanzania 13. Assessing the Scope for Partnerships Between Local Governments and Community-Based Organizations: Findings from Rural Morocco 14. Decentralisation, Service Delivery, and People’s Perspectives: Empirical Observations on Selected Social Protection Programs in India 15. Decentralised Management of Solid Waste in Mumbai Slums: Informal Privatisation through Patronage