Camille Cates Barnett, Ph.D. Henry P. Minis Jerry VanSant of the
Research Triangle Institute
December 1997
This paper was prepared for the United States Agency for International Development under the IQC for Democracy and Governance, Contract No. AEP-5468-I-00-6014-00, Task 1, Delivery Order 2: Use of Incentives to Encourage Devolution of Central Authority/Resources to Local Governments.
Democratic Decentralization August 1997 by Research Triangle Institute Camille Cates Barnett, Ph D, Henry P. Minis, and Jerry VanSant
Purpose The strategic objective that democratic decentralization serves is to broaden legitimacy, transparency, and accountability within the political systems of the countries where the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing development assistance. The Research Triangle Institute is engaged in a task to clarify how and under what circumstances decentralization can be used to induce higher levels of democratic behavior. That is, what factors strengthen the link between decentralization and democratic results? The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework for understanding democratic decentralization. Such a framework could offer a consistent basis for thinking about project design and for assessing democratic decentralization activities. The conceptional framework is presented in the sections that follow the summary, below: < < < < < < < < <
