Decentralization and Conflict Prevention

Abstract

Decentralization commonly refers to the release of power and authority from central government to lower tiers of government to make them administratively and financially less dependent on the central government. Decentralization can take up fiscal, administrative, and political forms, it could be arranged symmetrically or asymmetrically at subnational level, and it can occur both in federal and non-federal states. Decentralization is widely endorsed by international organizations and policymakers to mitigate inter-ethnic conflicts and secessionist movements. The idea is that by giving groups and regional authorities the control over their own political, social, and economic affairs, it is possible to undercut the conditions cultivating ethnic conflicts and secessionist tendencies. However, the theoretical and empirical studies fall short to verify if decentralization can indeed prevent conflicts. While some scholars argue that political decentralization or ethnofederalism can prevent conflicts and secessionist challenges, others argue that political decentralization can exacerbate such challenges. The mechanism between decentralization and conflict prevention is complex, and there remains many unknown in this relationship.