Approaches to Decentralization and Local Autonomy: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

In this paper the authors trace four main approaches to the issue of decentralization and local autonomy: the formal, dynamic, functional, and governance approach. The formal approach is primarily descriptive and deductive, but does not represent the actual workings of the administrative state, or typically lead to normative conclusions. The dynamic approach, in contrast to the formal, focuses on the process of task redistribution among tiers as a consequence of changes in society. The basic question with regard to this approach is: which form of decentralization has which effects on the quality of government under which conditions? The functional approach focuses primarily on the local level, considering issues of horizontal decentralization and the implications for local autonomy. Subsequent normative judgments are often ambiguous. Finally, the governance approach substitutes networks for issues of decentralization, concluding that local autonomy is on the wane.