Political Capture of Decentralization : Vote-Buying through Grants-Financed Local Jurisdictions
A recent trend in decentralization in several large and diverse countries is the creation of local jurisdictions below the regional level -- municipalities, towns, and villages -- whose spending is almost exclusively financed by grants from both re...
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Language: | English |
Published: |
2012
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Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000158349_20100624164225 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3835 |
Summary: | A recent trend in decentralization in
several large and diverse countries is the creation of local
jurisdictions below the regional level -- municipalities,
towns, and villages -- whose spending is almost exclusively
financed by grants from both regional and national
governments. This paper argues that such grants-financed
decentralization enables politicians to target benefits to
pivotal voters and organized interest groups in exchange for
political support. Decentralization, in this model, is
subject to political capture, facilitating vote-buying,
patronage, or pork-barrel projects, at the expense of
effective provision of broad public goods. There is
anecdotal evidence on local politics in several large
countries that is consistent with this theory. The paper
explores its implications for international development
programs in support of decentralization. |
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