Decentralizing for a Deeper, More Supple Democracy

Abstract

We review recent evidence regarding decentralization and state strength and argue that decentralization can deepen democracy without compromising state strength if adequately designed. We examine how decentralization affects five key aspects of state strength: 1) Authority over territory and people, 2) Conflict prevention 3) Policy autonomy and the ability to uphold the law, 4) Responsive, accountable service provision, and 5) Social learning. We provide specific reform paths that should lead to strengthening in each.

Decentralization’s Effects on Education and Health: Evidence from Ethiopia

“…Our results imply that decentralization is improving performance in Ethiopia's public education and health sectors, specifically by raising enrollment rates in schools and increasing provision of antenatal care to pregnant women. Evidence for this comes from regional-level 6 Faguet (20176 Faguet ( & 2014, Faguet et al (2015), Khan et al (2017), Khan et al (2014), andPutnam (1993) panel estimates, as well as national-level time series regressions. Our evidence is consistent across data types, methods of estimation, and specifications.…”

“…For many working on the topic then, this moment felt like a wave that was surely cresting. But enthusiasm has only grown in the new millennium, with new or deepening reforms announced in countries as diverse as Bolivia, Cambodia, France, Japan, Kenya, and Turkey, to name just a few (Faguet and Pöschl 2015, Hooghe and Marks 2016, Rodden 2006, World Bank 1999.…”

Does Decentralization Improve Health System Performance and Outcomes in Low‐ and Middle‐Income Countries? A Systematic Review of Evidence From Quantitative Studies

“…Since decentralization has been adopted in virtually every country in the world, future research may view it as an important background context and focus on how institutional designs and changes following decentralization may contribute to outcomes. Faguet, Fox, and Pöschl argue that decentralization designs that allow for participatory decision making, in which citizens can affect outcomes meaningfully, are important conditions to ensure the effectiveness of decentralized systems . An empirical study from Brazil showed that participatory budgeting, a participatory decision‐making instrument in Brazil's decentralization system, has facilitated an allocation of local public expenditures that matched popular preferences for larger shares of health services and contributed to improvement in community health outcomes …”

Blending Top-Down Federalism with Bottom-Up Engagement to Reduce Inequality in Ethiopia

“…As Hacker and Pierson (2011) show, the much greater rewards available to those who capture national government lead the richest interests to invest enormous sums in the attempt. National capture may be less frequent than local capture, but its effects are likely to be far more damaging (Faguet, Fox and Pöschl 2015).…”

“…As Blair (2000), Faguet (2012Faguet ( , 2014a, Rodden et al (2003), Treisman (2007) and many others have noted, decentralization is widely recommended as a reform that can help extend public services to areas previously underserved by centralized government, and make the state more responsive to local demand, thereby increasing both public sector effectiveness and political stability in the highly diverse societies typical of many developing countries. Partly as a result, decentralization has moved from a policy fashion in the 1980s to a broad international movement today, happening in all of the world's regions and most of its countries (Faguet and Pöschl 2015, Rodden 2006, World Bank 1999.…”