Decentralization and Citizen Participation in Mexico

Examining the Forms of Central Government’s Dominance over Local Governments in Liberia

“…It is also important to note that the policy of granting autonomy and authority to local governments in Liberia are on paper only, not in practice, as all decisions on laws and planning are top-down with the central government dominating all aspects (Mbabazize et al, 2022). Additionally, local governments are used as political instruments against opposition parties since all officials of local governments are compelled to be the members of the ruling party (Clarke, 2019). Even though the Local Governance Act was already passed in 2018 to strengthen the citizen participation and support local accountability, service delivery, election of officials and own-source revenue generation, it still has not been implemented yet since the central government continues to dominate all aspects.…”

“…This has drawn the attention of many researchers in recent years. Clarke (2019) found decentralization as Liberia's best policy option for citizen participation and good governance.…”

“…It has been investigated that despite the implementation of several decentralization policies in Liberia since 2011, the central government retains total control over all governmental decisions, including financial, political, and administrative, both at the national and local levels (Clarke, 2019;Ntekim Ekpe et al, 2013;. Due to this excessive domination, it is important to examine the specific power contributing to this situation.…”