ABSTRACT
Most national governments around the world have considered or actively moved towards some form of decentralization by involving political and administrative units below the national level in decision-making and service delivery. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on the technical dimension of functional assignment, for instance how to conceptualize governmental functions; what it means for national government to share power over these functions within their own dispersed administration and especially with subnational government; the criteria and process used for making specific decisions on where to place particular functions. It is not about decentralization in its entirety but rather about functional assignment as a crucial and usually neglected building block of decentralization reforms. The book also focuses on developing and emerging countries where decentralization is a common public sector reform noting important commonalities and differences.
