Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices

Entering the 21st century, the 1999-2000 World Development Report (WDR), identifies two main forces that are shaping the world in which development policy is being defined and implemented: (i) globalization, the increasing worldwide integration of...

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Main Author: World Bank
Format: Policy Note
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/03/12567898/decentralization-local-governance-mena-survey-policies-institutions-practices-review-decentralization-experience-eight-middle-east-north-africa-countries
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19617
id okr-10986-19617
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-196172021-04-23T14:03:46Z Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices World Bank CONSTITUENTS DECENTRALIZATION DELEGATION DEVOLUTION ELECTED OFFICIALS GLOBALIZATION INTERGOVERNMENTAL SYSTEMS LOCAL GOVERNANCE LOCALIZATION PUBLIC SERVICES Entering the 21st century, the 1999-2000 World Development Report (WDR), identifies two main forces that are shaping the world in which development policy is being defined and implemented: (i) globalization, the increasing worldwide integration of private sector interaction and commercial relationships; and (ii) localization, a process of devolving fiscal and administrative roles and responsibilities from central to sub-national tiers of government. It goes on to note that these global-private and local-public pressures are not only reinforcing, but also challenging traditional paradigms and forms of intergovernmental systems. Political decentralization, often associated with pluralistic politics and representative government, aims to give citizens more say in public policy and decision-making. Its advocates assume that decisions made with greater participation will be better informed and more relevant to diverse interests in society than those made only by national political authorities. The concept implies that the selection of representatives from local electoral jurisdictions allows citizens to know better their political representatives and allows elected officials to know better the needs and desires of their constituents. Administrative decentralization aims to redistribute authority, responsibility and financial resources for providing public services among different levels of government. It typically takes three forms: de-concentration, delegation and devolution. Fiscal decentralization vests greater autonomy and authority with local governments in matters of fiscal importance, empowering local governments to generate their own revenues, through taxes and user charges, as well as determining their expenditure priorities based on a clear assignment of functions and responsibilities. Over the last two decades, it has been estimated that more than 100 countries, most of them in the developing world, have experimented with various forms of decentralization. 2014-08-21T20:52:17Z 2014-08-21T20:52:17Z 2007-03-31 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/03/12567898/decentralization-local-governance-mena-survey-policies-institutions-practices-review-decentralization-experience-eight-middle-east-north-africa-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19617 English en_US CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work :: Policy Note Economic & Sector Work Middle East and North Africa North Africa Middle East
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic CONSTITUENTS
DECENTRALIZATION
DELEGATION
DEVOLUTION
ELECTED OFFICIALS
GLOBALIZATION
INTERGOVERNMENTAL SYSTEMS
LOCAL GOVERNANCE
LOCALIZATION
PUBLIC SERVICES
spellingShingle CONSTITUENTS
DECENTRALIZATION
DELEGATION
DEVOLUTION
ELECTED OFFICIALS
GLOBALIZATION
INTERGOVERNMENTAL SYSTEMS
LOCAL GOVERNANCE
LOCALIZATION
PUBLIC SERVICES
World Bank
Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices
geographic_facet Middle East and North Africa
North Africa
Middle East
description Entering the 21st century, the 1999-2000 World Development Report (WDR), identifies two main forces that are shaping the world in which development policy is being defined and implemented: (i) globalization, the increasing worldwide integration of private sector interaction and commercial relationships; and (ii) localization, a process of devolving fiscal and administrative roles and responsibilities from central to sub-national tiers of government. It goes on to note that these global-private and local-public pressures are not only reinforcing, but also challenging traditional paradigms and forms of intergovernmental systems. Political decentralization, often associated with pluralistic politics and representative government, aims to give citizens more say in public policy and decision-making. Its advocates assume that decisions made with greater participation will be better informed and more relevant to diverse interests in society than those made only by national political authorities. The concept implies that the selection of representatives from local electoral jurisdictions allows citizens to know better their political representatives and allows elected officials to know better the needs and desires of their constituents. Administrative decentralization aims to redistribute authority, responsibility and financial resources for providing public services among different levels of government. It typically takes three forms: de-concentration, delegation and devolution. Fiscal decentralization vests greater autonomy and authority with local governments in matters of fiscal importance, empowering local governments to generate their own revenues, through taxes and user charges, as well as determining their expenditure priorities based on a clear assignment of functions and responsibilities. Over the last two decades, it has been estimated that more than 100 countries, most of them in the developing world, have experimented with various forms of decentralization.
format Economic & Sector Work :: Policy Note
author World Bank
author_facet World Bank
author_sort World Bank
title Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices
title_short Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices
title_full Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices
title_fullStr Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices
title_full_unstemmed Decentralization and Local Governance in MENA : A Survey of Policies, Institutions, and Practices
title_sort decentralization and local governance in mena : a survey of policies, institutions, and practices
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2014
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2007/03/12567898/decentralization-local-governance-mena-survey-policies-institutions-practices-review-decentralization-experience-eight-middle-east-north-africa-countries
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19617
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