Decentralisation and the development of democratic local government continue quietly to sweep the world. As countries decentralise and call on their local governments to respond to their communities and to more effectively deliver services the United States Agency for International Development asks: “How can we improve the democratic system through our support for decentralisation reforms?”
This Handbook is part of a series of technical papers produced by the Centre for Democracy and Governance as a guide for Democracy and Governance Officers (DGOs) who must decide if, when and how to programme for decentralisation and democratic local governance. In publishing this Handbook, the Centre provides DGOs and their implementing partners with a fundamental conceptual framework for understanding decentralisation and democratic local governance. It also provides a means of generally assessing a country’s prospects for decentralisation and improved democratic local governance, along with a variety of programming strategies, tactics, evaluation techniques and lessons gathered from experiences worldwide .
The Handbook makes it clear that decentralisation and local governance planning must be conducted in accordance with a clear algorithm. It recommends that DGOs firstly assess the environment for their activities; secondly, define a strategy that targets the greatest opportunity; and, finally, select programming tactics. Other conclusions are that:
- In the absence of a clear understanding of the host country’s politics and of the import of development activities within that political context, decentralisation and democratic programming will undoubtedly be less successful
- When effective decentralisation and democratic local governance advance in tandem, local governments, and the communities they govern, gain the authority, resources and skills to make responsive choices and act on them effectively
- The suitability of the environment depends on two key criteria: The extent of the political will to decentralise, and the local governance tradition of the host country
- The possible focus areas for donor assistance include: Creating a favourable enabling environment, developing democratic local governance, and building local government capacity
- Effective monitoring and evaluation, and learning from experience, improve programming results.
The Handbook is a testament to the Centre’s recognition of decentralisation and the development of democratic local governance as fundamentally political processes. The policy implications from the article make it clear that:
- Advancing the capacity of local governments to act effectively requires promoting the desire and capacity of civil society organisations and individual citizens to take responsibility for their own communities
- DGOs must determine the degree of political will to decentralise and the strength of the country’s tradition of local governance
- DGOs have to decide in how many of the three focus areas they should strategically intervene to maximise their impact on the development of a democratic local system of government
- DGOs must work with a number of possible options to ensure impact and sustain programme efforts
- DGOs should conduct performance monitoring and evaluation to determine whether programming is achieving the desired results.
