ABSTRACT
The need for capacity building in developing countries has long been advocated. International organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank have been working on this issue. Many young people from developing countries are being trained in universities in advanced countries under the auspices o f their own national governments, donors, and other international organizations. Many have gone back to their own country and, if they joined the public sector, are working for the central government rather than local governments. Behind successful national economic management o f some developing countries, one can find highly trained bureaucrats, in some cases, they are called the Berkeley mafia or the Cornell mafia, depending on the university where many o f these bureaucrats were trained. Capacity building o f a select few might have been completed successfully for many countries. However, the developing countries are now demanding much more capacity building as they decentralize. Currently many developing countries are moving from a centralized system o f governance to a decentralized one. It is reported that 63 out o f the 75 developing countries with a population greater than 5 million have gone to a decentralized system since 1980s.1 This is generally viewed as a desirable move. It is often said that decentralized governance will meet residents’ desires more closely as decision-makers are very familiar with the conditions o f their own areas. This will be true when certain conditions are met. But, the issue is not an academic one. Decisions to decentralize are decided politically and are not made on the basis o f its merits versus demerits. There are many reasons for these political decisions. In some cases, it is a way o f avoiding some responsibility by the central government, a means o f obtaining greater amounts o f foreign aid, due to pressure against dictatorship, or for improving the support for the political leader.
