ABSTRACT
Decentralization as an approach to development administration occupies an important conceptual position within the development discourse. Yet, the assessment of decentralization in a significant share of the academic and practitioner literature has shifted from marked optimism to one of caution, even pessimism. This entry presents a typology of decentralization reforms in developing countries. It then explores the ideological and rhetorical underpinnings of decentralization reforms and the complex set of political realities and motivations in the centralized governments, which are, rhetorically or effectively, undertaking them. Four problematic issues and controversies surrounding decentralization are explored in the concluding section, including the impacts of decentralization on inequality, macroeconomic stability, and political accountability. In analyzing specific reforms, analysts should attempt to explain the diverse impacts of decentralization reforms and to elucidate the political dynamics of center–local relations.
