Nearly all countries worldwide are now experimenting with decentralization. Their motivation are diverse. Many countries are decentralizing because they believe this can help stimulate economic growth or reduce rural poverty, goals central government interventions have failed to achieve. Some countries see it as a way to strengthen civil society and deepen democracy. Some perceive it as a way to off-load expensive responsibilities onto lower level governments. Thus, decentralization is seen as a solution to many different kinds of problems. This report examines the origins and implications decentralization from a political economy perspective, with a focus on its promise and limitations. It explores why countries have often chosen not to decentralize, even when evidence suggests that doing so would be in the interests of the government. It seeks to explain why since the early 1980s many countries have undertaken some form of decentralization. This report also evaluates the evidence to understand where decentralization has considerable promise and where it does not. It identifies conditions needed for decentralization to succeed. It identifies the ways in which decentralization can promote rural development. And it names the goals which decentralization will probably not help achieve.

This book integrates the fundamental theories of decentralization and rural development, providing a comprehensive explanation of how they can be successfully implemented to improve the livelihoods of rural communities in Indonesia. The topics addressed in this book include participatory budgeting, social capital, community participation, local capacity development, and poverty alleviation, which are discussed in detail from the perspectives of local politics, public administration, rural economy, and community studies. The multifaceted interrelations between these disciplines are analyzed to formulate a framework identifying the opportunities and challenges involved in formulating guiding principles for the implementation of decentralization. Readers are provided with the necessary intellectual groundwork through theoretical discussions and case studies involving grassroots realities in Indonesian villages. This book is highly recommended for all readers who are seeking an in-depth understanding of modern efforts to effectively implement decentralization in developing countries to promote local democratization, community empowerment, and poverty alleviation.

This book focuses on the experience of decentralization in rural Kenya and is presented in two parts under the following themes: (i) successes and failures of decentralization (chapters 2-6); and (ii) socioeconomic and institutional preconditions for successful decentralization (chapters 7-10). The text will be of interest to researchers and students in social sciences and development studies, and to policy makers in international aid agencies, non-governmental development organizations and government ministries. A subject index is included.

Contributed articles presented at two seminars on regional planning and participatory rural development predominantly on West Bengal held at Dept. of Economics with Rural Development, Vidyasagar University.

This publication offers a framework for the empowerment of people living in poverty throughout the world that concentrates on increasing people's freedom of choice and action to shape their own lives. Based on analysis of practical experiences, the book identifies four key elements to support empowerment: information, inclusion and participation, improved accountability and local organisational capacity. This framework is then applied to five areas of action to improve development effectiveness: provision of basic services, improved local governance, improved national governance, pro-poor market development, and access to justice and legal aid. It also offers twenty 'tools and practices' which concentrate on a wide-range of topics to support the empowerment of the poor.

This book is based on an empirical research which explores bottom-up development practices initiated and organized by rural communities in the Indonesian periphery by placing “communication” at its core of analysis. The aim is to determine the extent that the Indonesian decentralization policy and the use of internet and other digital Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has affected the theory and practice of development communication as well as changes in relations between the center and the periphery within the context of Indonesian rural development. The book takes on periphery perspective in center-periphery interactions and relations. Hence, it belongs to "periphery research" that has rarely been used in recent decades. By using Grounded Theory for its data collection and analysis method, the results of this study are grouped into two major thematic categories: “communication development”, instead of development communication, and “communication empowerment”.

This book draws on experiences in developing countries to bridge the gap between the conventional textbook treatment of fiscal decentralization and the actual practice of subnational government finance. The extensive literature about the theory and practice is surveyed and longstanding problems and new questions are addressed. It focuses on the key choices that must be made in decentralizing, on how economic and political factors shape the choices that countries make, and on how, by paying more attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach and the critical connections between different components of decentralization reform, everyone involved might get more for their money.

Disillusioned with the results of centralized government planning, many countries have recently tried placing planning authority with state, regional or district agencies. The authors in this volume examine experiences in Asia, South America, and Africa to review the varieties of decentralization policies and programmes. They identify the social, economic, and political factors that seem to influence their success or failure. Alternative approaches to decentralization of development planning are discussed, and prescriptions for improved implementation are made. Different concepts of decentralization are explored throughout the book, and the advantages and disadvantages of different forms of decentralization are also detailed.

In Indian context.