ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides historical background on decentralization issues and initiatives in Peru. It examines the projects' contribution to the political empowerment of decentralized agencies and institutional reforms at the national level. The book argues that the projects provide important empirical evidence to support some of the claims made in the literature about the benefits of decentralization in developing countries. It presents the Peruvian experience with decentralization both confirms much of the conventional wisdom about decentralized design and exposes the limits of this wisdom. The book also argues that design features incorporated in Agency for International Development (AID)/Peru projects can be used to address concerns that have been raised in the literature about the ability of international donors to support decentralization. It examines AID's efforts to support Peruvian decentralization in light of recent comparative research on decentralization in developing countries
