Decentralized Development in Latin America

Decentralized Development in Latin America
Author: Paul Lindert
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2010-03-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 904813739X

Much of the scholarly and professional literature on development focuses either on the ‘macro’ level of national policies and politics or on the ‘micro’ level of devel- ment projects and household or community socio-economic dynamics. By contrast, this collection pitches itself at the ‘meso’ level with a comparative exploration of the ways in which local institutions – municipalities, local governments, city authorities, civil society networks and others – have demanded, and taken on, a greater role in planning and managing development in the Latin American region. The book’s rich empirical studies reveal that local institutions have engaged upwards, with central authorities, to shape their policy and resource environments and in turn, been pressured from ‘below’ by local actors contesting the ways in which the structures and processes of local governance are framed. The examples covered in this volume range from global cities, such as Mexico and Santiago, to remote rural areas of the Bolivian and Brazilian Amazon. As a result the book provides a deep understanding of the diversity and complexity of local governance and local development in Latin America, while avoiding the stereotyped claims about the impact of globalisation or the potential benefits of decentralisation, as frequently stated in less empirically grounded analysis.

Decentralizing Health Services in Mexico

Decentralizing Health Services in Mexico
Author: Nuria Homedes
Publisher: Lynne Rienner Publishers
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2006
Genre: Health care reform
ISBN:

?This academic but passionate and controversial work should be read by specialists on Mexico and Latin America, as well as by those interested in healthcare and social policy in general.??Carmelo Mesa-Lago, University of PittsburghHas Mexico, twenty years after beginning the process of decentralizing its health system, realized the anticipated benefits of increased community participation and improvements in efficiency and quality? Addressing this question, Decentralizing Health Services in Mexico presents a thorough historical and theoretical grounding, as well as representative case studies of decentralization at the state and local levels.The authors combine qualitative and quantitative data in their examination of the transfer of authority over fiscal, human, and physical resources in the health sector. The result is a major contribution to the ongoing debate over the advantages and disadvantages of decentralization in varying political, cultural, and economic contexts.Nuria Homedes is associate professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health-Houston. Antonio Ugalde is emeritus professor at the Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin. CONTENTS: Decentralization: Theory and History. Decentralization: The Long Road from Theory to Practice?the Editors. Decentralization of Health Services in Mexico: A Historical Review?the Editors. The First Attempt, 1983-1988. Decentralizing Health Services: Formulation, Implementaion, and Results?M. Gonzalez-Block, R. Leyva, O. Zapta, R. Loewe, and J. Alagon. Federalist Flirtations: The Politics and Execution of Health Services Decentralization for the Uninsured in Mexico, 1985-1995?A.-E. Birn. Trying Again, 1994-2004: Case Studies from Five States. ?Decentralized? in Quotes: Baja California Sur, 1996-2000?L. Olvera Santana. The Slow and Difficult Institutionalization of Health Care Reform in Sonora: 1982-2000?R. Abrantes Pego. Guanajuato: Invisible Results?S. Arjonilla Alday. Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas: Opening and Closing a Window of Opportunity?the Editors. Decentralization at the Health District Level in Nuevo Leon?the Editors. Conclusions?the Editors.

The Local Alternative

The Local Alternative
Author: Rafael de la Cruz
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 318
Release: 2016-04-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0230119646

This book offers a step forward in finding out how the new decentralized institutional arrangements affect local economic development. In particular, it analyzes how local governments can use their increasing powers and responsibilities to improve productivity and quality of life in their territories.

Achievements and Challenges of Fiscal Decentralization

Achievements and Challenges of Fiscal Decentralization
Author: Marcelo Giugale
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2000-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780821347324

The three forces of democratization, decentralization, and development have swept the world over the last decade and redrawn the maps of politics, power, and prosperity. Modern Mexico has been fully engaged in the trio, making it a rich case study. In recent years, enhanced political competition has redistributed decisionmaking across all levels of government, making the government more accountable to the average citizen. It has also given subnational governments a renewed role as economic agents. The taxation, spending, borrowing, and institutions of Mexican states and municipalities are now increasingly under the rigor of market discipline. The combined, closer scrutiny of voters and financiers is creating a new incentive framework for policymakers-a framework where necessary reforms become both inescapable and, more importantly, a perceived source of potential reward. This book is the product of the analytical work of a large number of experts, Mexican and foreign. In the book, the experts document Mexico's decentralization experience; conceptualize its main trends, policies, and options; and bring it into the light of international comparison. They distill critical lessons and challenges that are of relevance for Mexico, for Latin America and, generally, for countries that are embarking on far reaching decentralization efforts. This renders the volume a major contribution to our knowledge and thinking in this area; and a timely one, since decentralization is an irreversible process that is likely to continue occupying policymakers for years to come.

Boosting Competitiveness Through Decentralization

Boosting Competitiveness Through Decentralization
Author: Aylin Topal
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2016-04-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317173228

Decentralization is accepted as one of the defining features of the third wave of democratic transitions in Latin America and commonly understood as an index and an agent of democratization. This rather optimistic perspective is inherent in the literature which is dominated by two theories. The liberal-individualist approach, especially as advocated by the World Bank, promotes decentralization policies on the premise of their efficiency, equity, and responsiveness to local demands. Similarly, the statist approach claims that decentralization can be the route to greater accountability, transparency and participation in governance; they add that this path should be guided by political elites and institutions. These dominant views nevertheless understate the extent to which certain decentralization policies have been implemented in lockstep with neoliberalization. This book examines the relationship between global economic processes and decentralization. It argues that through decentralization policies, the imperatives of neoliberal rules of competitiveness have been diffused into local governments and economies, generating different local development models. Whether decentralization produces democratic opening at the local level is contingent on how the local economy is integrated into global economic processes, and which social and economic groups are empowered, and disempowered, in that transition.