Working Papers
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Sanctions, Benefits, and Rights: Three Faces of Accountability
In what way are citizens able to affect their local public officials and how can their collective need be transformed into government action? 15 years ago a study in Mexico examined 30 randomly selected municipals and the findings were that the ability to demand good performance of local government lagged behind other forms of civil…
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Perspectives on Decentralisation
Why do some decentralization reforms fail while others succeed? This is one of the burning questions in the decentralization literature and this publication examines in what contexts different types of decentralization works well and how these types of decentralizations affect society. This research serves therefore as an important contribution to the existing research in the…
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Limits to Local Democracy: The Politics of Urban Governance Transformations in Cape Town
Is a decentralized government more effective and accountable than a state centred public administration? This publication provides the reader with a new way of understanding modern urban governance from a South African perspective. The question of how to create political legitimacy is in focus and this publication is therefore a good source for understanding the…
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Governance Dilemmas of Sustainable Cities
New problems have emerged in a global context through the existence of major urban areas – how do these areas manage to combine sustainable city planning with decentralization and/or participatory local democracy? For researchers, public administration professionals and development practitioners alike this is a must read as a tool for creating sustainable solutions for urban…