The politics of urban governance in sub-Saharan Africa

Resnick, Danielle

doi:10.1080/13597566.2020.1774371

Cited by 22 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Local government has a history that stretches to the beginnings of civilization, and today every country has some form of village or town council that handles local public goods such as refuse disposal or road maintenance. In most countries, both the responsibilities and territorial scale of local governments have grown in response to urbanization and the knowledge economy (Ladner et al, 2016; Ladner & Keuffer, 2021; Page, 1991; Resnick, 2021; Sellers et al, 2020).…”

Section: A Changing Territorial Structure Of Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The territorial architecture of government

2021

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This article sets the stage for a special issue that examines the interplay between subnational and supranational governance. It begins by discussing how the territorial architecture of government has become more multilevel as national governments have shifted authority both downwards to subnational governments and upwards to international and supranational institutions. Next, we argue that this multilevel structure emanates from a tension between the drive to reap the functional benefits of scale diversity in a globalizing economy and the pressures arising from collective self‐rule. We build on the research in this special issue to highlight some tangible effects of this tension for policy, politics, and polity. Subnational and supranational governance are conventionally perceived as separate phenomena with distinct consequences, and yet they are intimately connected in a fluid territorial architecture of multilevel governance.

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Section: A Changing Territorial Structure Of Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The territorial architecture of government

2021

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“…Following Herrera and Post's (2014) work on the dual processes of decentralization and water sector privatization, the analysis highlights the incompatibility between certain decentralization reforms and sectoral development targets. This is particularly true in Africa where more than 75% of countries in the region now have some form of subnational elections (Resnick 2020). In 2014, 17 heads of state committed to the 2014 African Union (AU) Declaration on Decentralization, and additional countries are devolving agricultural services, such as Kenya, Malawi, and Zambia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does Accountability Undermine Service Delivery? The Impact of Devolving Agriculture in Ghana

Resnick

2021

Eur J Dev Res

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In recent years, many developing countries have devolved services to locally elected governments. Although this may strengthen downwards accountability to citizens, does devolution improve service provision? Ghana began devolving agriculture in 2012 to its Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDAs). Drawing on an original survey with 80 District Directors of Agriculture and 960 households, as well as district-level budget data and interviews with national and local government stakeholders, this paper shows that agricultural expenditures and services have been negatively affected by the transition. The imperative of electoral accountability encourages assembly members to de-prioritize agriculture in the budget process in favor of more visible goods and services. Budget allocations, however, do reflect the preferences of local citizens, a majority of whom value using elections to sanction their district politicians. The findings indicate that devolution may increase accountability but result in sectoral trade-offs in service provision, which may undermine national policy objectives.

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“…However, they additionally sought to have greater national oversight of urban affairs. National leaders used reforms to curtail mayoral powers and prevent opposition party mayors from using the city as a launching pad for the national political stage (Gore and Gopakumar, 2015; Gore and Muwanga, 2014; Resnick, 2021). They justified these special government structures by noting that these capital cities bore a higher share of the service burdens in their countries and were struggling to provide services independently.…”

Section: Metropolitan Reforms and Urban Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Urbanising later than regions in North America and Europe or even parts of the Global South makes these challenges and opportunities unique (Fox and Goodfellow, 2021). Many African countries are reconfiguring urban governance, including the structure and boundaries of local governments and intergovernmental relations, to respond to these challenges (Resnick, 2021). Metropolitan reforms, often entailing territorial reorganisation and the reallocation of national and provincial powers and functions to urban governments, have emerged as one major strategy to transform urban governance in Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Mangaung Metro: The politics of metropolitan reform in a South African secondary city

Subramanyam

Marais

2022

Urban Studies

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Metropolitan reforms, which include the creation of unified metropolitan governments through municipal mergers and reclassification, are emerging as one strategy to address planning and service delivery challenges in the wake of increasing urbanisation across sub-Saharan Africa. Although metropolitanisation adds service area and mandates, well-functioning secondary cities that are part of a two-tier governance system in South Africa are pursuing metropolitanisation. The case of Mangaung, an early instance of secondary city metropolitanisation, is an opportunity to examine the motivations underlying these reforms, the politics involved and their impacts on urban governance. Mangaung’s political and administrative leadership pursued metropolitanisation to jump scale, attain greater political autonomy vis-à-vis other tiers of government, and obtain fiscal and technical resources available only to metropolitan municipalities in South Africa’s urban municipal hierarchy. Metropolitanisation was no panacea for Mangaung’s governance challenges, however, since it did not resolve the underlying weaknesses in municipal capacity or the regional economy, nor did it address the spatial legacies of apartheid that produced a sprawling metropolitan service area. As other South African secondary cities contemplate metropolitanisation, we recommend revising municipal structures and mandates and strengthening administrative capacities and economies in secondary cities.

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The politics of urban governance in sub-Saharan Africa

Cited by 22 publications

References 61 publications

The territorial architecture of government

The territorial architecture of government

Does Accountability Undermine Service Delivery? The Impact of Devolving Agriculture in Ghana

Making Mangaung Metro: The politics of metropolitan reform in a South African secondary city

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