Merilee Grindle
Throughout the developing world, two decades of political, administrative, and fiscal decentralization have left behind a daunting legacy for local governments. Long bereft of authority and resources by highly centralized governments, localities across the globe are now grappling with how to take on new responsibilities for economic development, public service provision, and fiscal management—all in the context of new democratic institutions.
While researchers have focused considerable attention on the causes and consequences of decentralization policies at the national level, we know relatively little about how local governments have responded to the challenges inherent in their new mandates or how initiatives for stimulating local development, providing essential services, and managing local affairs are generated and pursued.
Through a comparative study of 30 randomly selected municipalities in Mexico , Going Local considers what happens in the wake of decentralization. For example, when local governments are charged with new responsibilities and resources, how do they respond? What factors encourage mayors, councilors, and local administrators to invest in local economic development, improved service provision, and more responsive government? What conflicts, interactions, and learning characterize the politics and process of local governance reform? How do citizens become involved in promoting and sustaining better government?
The study assesses four hypotheses about the dynamics behind local government response to new mandates: partisan political pressures; the impact of capacity building and state modernization; leadership and public “entrepreneurship;” and social capital endowments. Thus, the study is centrally concerned with the origins of improved performance and asks how, why, and when better local governance emerges in newly democratic settings.