Multilevel governance Archives – Decentralization Net

South Africa launches landmark White Paper on local government reform

October 27, 2026 LPS Alliance

Nearly three decades after South Africa adopted its landmark 1998 White Paper on Local Government, the country has embarked on a major overhaul of its local governance system. On October 22, 2026, President Cyril Ramaphosa […]

From local action to effective multilevel governance: Lessons from the UN Forum of Mayors

October 20, 2026 LPS Alliance

The Sixth United Nations Forum of Mayors, held in Geneva on October 12–13, 2026, brought together city leaders under the theme “Cities delivering for a sustainable future.” The Forum’s outcome document reinforces the growing recognition […]

The Republic of Moldova is implementing sweeping local government consolidation

October 16, 2026 LPS Alliance

The Republic of Moldova is preparing one of the most ambitious territorial and administrative reforms in its recent history. On October 8, 2026, the Government presented a new administrative-territorial map that would consolidate the country’s […]

Scaling up locally led climate adaptation in East Africa

October 15, 2026 LPS Alliance

As climate change increasingly threatens livelihoods, infrastructure, and public services across East Africa, the need for effective climate adaptation has become more urgent. Yet despite growing international commitments to climate finance, relatively little funding reaches […]

A new frontier for development cooperation: From localizing development to leveraging multilevel governance

July 2, 2026 LPS Alliance

Over the past two decades, the international development community has undergone an important shift in its thinking about development. Increasingly, policy makers, development partners, and international organizations recognize that achieving sustainable development requires more than […]

Vietnam’s ambitious subnational governance restructuring

June 11, 2026 LPS Alliance

Vietnam is in the middle of one of the most ambitious subnational governance restructurings in Asia. To streamline public administration, reduce duplication and improve service delivery, the government has embarked on a sweeping program of […]

Does federalism strengthen democratic participation?

April 19, 2026 LPS Alliance

A longstanding assumption in the study of decentralization and multilevel governance is that federal systems are inherently more democratic. The logic is intuitive: by constitutionally dividing power and creating multiple arenas for representation and decision-making, […]

Devolved health services in Kenya: Access, efficiency, and the unfinished business of devolution

January 31, 2026 LPS Alliance

Over the past decade, Kenya’s devolution reform has fundamentally reshaped the country’s public sector by transferring responsibility for a wide range of public sector functions—including primary health services—to 47 county governments. The intent of this […]

From decentralization to recentralization in Turkey

September 22, 2025 LPS Alliance

When the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) swept into power in 2002, it promised to loosen the rigid centralism that had long defined the Turkish state. In its first years, the party advanced decentralizing […]

Effective multilevel governance and citizen engagement: billions of (dollar) reasons to care

August 18, 2025 LPS Alliance

With global development institutions in retreat, it is becoming more and more obvious that the public sector is unambiguously the primary enabler of ‘global’ development—capable of propelling development forward by embracing inclusive and effective multilevel […]