TOWARD%20EFFECTIVE

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• TOWARD EFFECTIVE
• LOCAL GOVERNANCE
• Key Issues
• G. Shabbir Cheema
• Principal Adviser and Programme Director
• Department of Economic and Social Affairs
• United Nations

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• CONTENTS
• I. The Emerging Concept of Decentralized
  Governance
• II. Key Issues in Effective
• Local Governance
• III. Conclusion

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I. THE EMERGING CONCEPT OF
DECENTRALIZED GOVERNANCE
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THE EMERGING CONCEPT OF DECENTRALIZED GOVERNANCE

• In the 1970s and 1980s, the first wave of
  post-World War II thinking on decentralization
  focused on deconcentrating hierarchical
  government structures bureaucracies.

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THE EMERGING CONCEPT OF DECENTRALIZED GOVERNANCE

• In the mid 1980s, a second wave of
  decentralization broadened the concept to
  include
• - political power sharing
• - democratization
• - market liberalization
• - expanding the scope for
  private sector decision

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THE EMERGING CONCEPT OF DECENTRALIZED GOVERNANCE

• During the 1990s, decentralization was seen as
  a
• way of opening governance to wider public
  participation
• through civil society organizations
  

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The Emerging Concept of Decentralized Governance

• The new Public Management movement of the 1990s
  emphasized that
• Governments should be innovative,
  market-oriented, decentralized, and focused on
  offering their customers the highest quality
  services.

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• Governments should
• steer rather than row
• Oversee services provision rather than always
  delivering them directly
• Encourage local groups to solve their own
  problems
• Deregulate and privatize activities that can be
  carried out more efficiently or effectively by
  the private sector or NGOs

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• The Emerging Concept of Decentralized Governance
• In the 21st century, globalization has created
  new pressures for governments to decentralize.
  Foreign direct investment (FDI) has increased
  where
• the government has created a strong national
  business climate
• location assets in towns, cities, and regions
  
• are well developed
• local governments can provide the services,
• infrastructure, quality of life and other
  support
• for foreign-owned and domestic firms.

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II. KEY ISSUES IN EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE
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• Local Governance can be defined as the process to
  exercise economic, political and administrative
  authority in the management of local affairs
• It comprises mechanisms, processes and
  institutions through which citizen and groups
  articulate their interests, mediate their
  differences and exercise their legal rights and
  obligations

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• It includes three sets of actors those from the
  state, the civil society and the private sector
• Local Governments should not only be democratic
  and participatory but also effective

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• KEY ISSUES IN
• EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE
• 1. Transferring power and authority from the
  central government to sub- national
  administrative and local government units
  and opening the political process to
  widespread participation provides an
  institutional framework for local autonomy and
  empowers communities to pursue
• local aspirations.

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• KEY ISSUES IN
• EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE
• - Political and fiscal devolution are
  complementary.
• Political devolution provides a legal basis for
  the exercise of power at the local level and
  enables citizens to influence local
  policy-making and priority-setting.
• Fiscal devolution assigns functions and revenues
  to sub-national and local governments and the
  resources by which to implement local policies
  and programs

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KEY ISSUES IN EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE

• 2. The introduction of new methods and skills for
  public administration lead to greater
  effectiveness of local governance
• Modern techniques of management
• Improvement of administrative and technical
  capacities of elected and appointed officials
• Performance standards
• Training

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KEY ISSUES IN EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE

• 3. When civil society organizations engage in
  public decision-making,they can become helpful
  instruments or effective local governance. They
  can
• increase local support and legitimacy for
  government intervention
• safeguard the interests of local groups and
  citizens, and
• expand access to basic services.

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KEY ISSUES IN EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE

• 4. Rampant corruption and misuse of
• authority at local levels
• Effective local governance requires strong
  accountability not only by politicians and
  government officials, but also by the private
  sector and representatives of civil society

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KEY ISSUES IN EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE

• 5. The capacity of political and appointed
  leaders to mobilize resources

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KEY ISSUES IN EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE

• 6. Service Delivery and Access
• Service provision through local governance
  permits greater social controls, better response
  to local demands and priorities and citizen
  participation
• Enhances trust in local governance

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KEY ISSUES IN EFFECTIVE LOCAL GOVERNANCE

• 7. The Information and Communication technology
  can increase citizens access to information,
  provide them with a system for consultation,
  and increase their participation in decision
  making

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• III. CONCLUSION

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• Local capacity building is the foundation for
  effective local governance.
• Local capacity-building means increasing the
  ability of an institution, organization, group or
  individual to perform required functions
  effectively, efficiently, and sustainability.

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• Capacity for effective Local Governance is
  enhanced through
• - Institutional framework that creates
  partnerships between the Centre and local
  regions/areas through political and fiscal
  devolution
• - New methods and skills of Public Administration
  
• - Ability of the local leaders to mobilize
  resources for service delivery and access
• - Partnerships with Civil Society Organizations
  and the private sector

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• Thank you!