Political decentralization Archives – Page 3 of 4

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[ February 8, 2026 ] How India’s Sixteenth Finance Commission chose stability over disruption Asia
[ February 4, 2026 ] Leadership transition at the Local Public Sector Alliance Local Public Sector Alliance
[ January 31, 2026 ] Devolved health services in Kenya: Access, efficiency, and the unfinished business of devolution Africa
[ January 27, 2026 ] Introducing LPSA’s Monday Minute Community
[ January 26, 2026 ] Can federalism constrain authoritarianism? Decentralization

The Rise and Fall of Local Elections in China

September 21, 2022 LPSAManager

It has long been observed that many autocracies run national elections, and several theories have been proposed to explain this regularity. The main thrust of these theories is that elections cement the regime’s grip on […]

Towards a Decentralized Haitian State

July 30, 2022 LPS Alliance

Decentralization was a prominent theme throughout Haiti after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck near the capital in January 2010, killing up to 300,000 people in just 35 seconds, and again more recently in August 2021 […]

Varieties of Democracy: Capturing data about subnational democratic institutions and practices

May 30, 2022 LPS Alliance

Social scientists working on decentralization and subnational governance are limited in their work by the paucity of data on subnational institutions and practices around the world. In fact, there are few–if any–data sources that provide […]

Local democracy or elected despotism in Punjab, Pakistan?

February 1, 2022 LPS Alliance

Less than a year after assuming power, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) fulfilled its promise of radically reforming local government legislation in Punjab. Punjab’s 2019 Local Government Act introduced a party-based directly elected mayoral system. Well established […]

Malaysia won’t have local government elections

January 10, 2022 LPSAManager

Malaysia will not revive local government elections, as it would cost at least RM302 million nationwide and such elections for local councilors may not necessarily guarantee the provision of good service to the public, a […]

Electoral Accountability and Fiscal Federalism: The Case of Peru

September 19, 2021 LPS Alliance

Accountability is at the heart of the democratic enterprise. One commonly touted benefit of decentralization is that it promotes this accountability by allowing sub-national governments to target fiscal policy more precisely to the varying preferences […]

Transforming Decentralization and Local Governance in Ghana

July 13, 2021 LPS Alliance

In 1988, Ghana began a new decentralization policy framework that focused on grassroots citizens’ participation for the effective and efficient services delivery. Since then, the number of local government (LG) authorities have more than doubled […]

Do Brazilian mayors use empirical research to make policy choices?

June 30, 2021 LPS Initiative

Decentralization can allow the public sector to be more inclusive and responsive, but only when local leaders make well-informed policy choices. This begs the question: what role can policy-effectiveness research play in spurring the spread […]

Local Accountability and National Coordination in Fiscal Federalism

March 11, 2021 LPS Alliance

A book by Charles R. Hankla, Jorge Martinez-Vazquez and Raúl A. Ponce Rodríguez Scholars and practitioners have long hailed fiscal federalism as a critical tool for improving government services, but it has not always lived […]

Considering Local Democratic Transition in Latin America

February 1, 2016 LPS Alliance

Drawing from well-known theories of democracy and democratic transition, this study considers the transition to local democracy in Latin America. It raises a central question: Given the landmark decentralization of the past three decades, what constitutes […]