Governance from below: a theory of local government with two empirical tests

Faguet, Jean-Paul ORCID: 0000-0002-7188-0098 (2005) Governance from below: a theory of local government with two empirical tests. Political economy and public policy papers (12). Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, London, UK.

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Abstract

I examine decentralization through the lens of the local dynamics that it unleashes. The national effects of decentralization are simply the sum of its local-level effects. Hence to understand decentralization we must first understand how local government works. This paper proposes a theory of local government as the confluence of two quasi-markets and one organizational dynamic. Good government results when these three elements - political, economic and civil - are in rough balance, and actors in one cannot distort the others. Specific types of imbalance map into specific forms of government failure. I use comparative analysis to test the theory's predictions with qualitative and quantitative evidence from Bolivia. The combined methodology provides a higher-order empirical rigor than either approach can alone. The theory proves robust.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/series....
Additional Information:	Published 2005 © Jean-Paul Faguet
Divisions:	STICERD International Development
Subjects:	J Political Science > JC Political theory J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D71 - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations H - Public Economics > H4 - Publicly Provided Goods > H41 - Public Goods H - Public Economics > H4 - Publicly Provided Goods > H42 - Publicly Provided Private Goods H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations > H72 - State and Local Budget and Expenditures O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O18 - Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses
Date Deposited:	17 Nov 2005
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 18:43
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/475

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