Daniel Latouche

Decentralization in Africa: Too Many Policies, Not Enough Politics

Abstract Proposals to re-energize African decentralization usually include providing local authorities with more financial resources and administrative capacities or giving civil society direct access to decision making in order to bring government closer to the people. But if Africa is to achieve effective democratic decentralization, the policy community must recognize that decentralization is more than a set of ever more refined policies and programs. Politics and politicians must be put in command of a process that can be brought to a successful conclusion only through constant bargaining and negotiation. In Africa, as in Latin America before, only the existence of viable sub-national units and the emergence of a local partisan system can hopefully accelerate the pace of reforms by providing local actors with sufficient space to manoeuvre.