ABSTRACT
The 1982 decentralization reforms significantly changed the territorial organization of the French state. The reforms also changed the nature of the relationship between the state and local or intermediate governments. The reforms restructured cooperation arrangements between the state and regional/local authorities and readjusted their respective contributions to sectoral policies. The use of contractual agreements between the state and local governments predates the Defferre reforms. The contractual policy-making process started in July 1982 when regions were asked to list their regional investment priorities. Regional prefects and presidents of regional councils were consulted about their mid-term priorities during the fall of 1987. The contractual planning process appears as both a transfer of resources from the state to the regions and the mobilization of local capacities to sustain sectoral policies concerning the national territory as a whole. The implementation of contractual planning also prompted a transformation of relations between political, bureaucratic and private policy actors at the regional level.
