ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the current debate on decentralization as a model of public sector management reform that has received worldwide attention. It explores design issues of decentralization reforms because good design has been mentioned consistently as a key success factor for such reforms; the design issues discussed influence the attainment of subnational autonomy and subnational responsiveness as two key pre-conditions to realize the promises of decentralization. Since the 1990s, decentralization has become a common feature in the reform of the public sector in industrialized countries as well as in developing and emerging countries. Possible outcomes of decentralization reforms can be sought and found in various areas: the political system and intergovernmental relations between levels of government, in the performance of public sector institutions providing public services, or in the quality of governance.
