Faguet, Jean-Paul 
ORCID: 0000-0002-7188-0098, Fox, Ashley M. and Pöschl, Caroline
(2015)
Decentralizing for a deeper, more supple democracy.
Journal of Democracy, 26 (4).
pp. 60-74.
ISSN 1045-5736
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Abstract
Well-designed decentralization can deepen democracy and strengthen the state in five key ways. Decentralizing below the level of social cleavages should undermine secessionism by peeling away moderates from radical leaders. The “fragmentation of authority” critique is mistaken; decentralization transforms the state from a simpler, brittler command structure to one of multilevel complementarity more robust to local failure. Decentralizing services with low economies of scale, with devolved taxation and bail-outs prohibited, should increase accountability. Lastly, the small scale of local politics allows citizens to become political actors, promoting social learning-by-doing, strengthening political legitimacy and ‘democratic suppleness’ from the grass-roots upwards.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.journalofdemocracy.org/ |
| Additional Information: | © 2015 National Endowment for Democracy and Johns Hopkins University Press |
| Divisions: | International Development STICERD |
| Subjects: | J Political Science > JA Political science (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2015 08:41 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Nov 2024 08:03 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/63191 |
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