The promises and realities of Ghana's decentralization: a case study from the Wenchi district of Ghana

This article explores the functioning of the decentralized structures in Wenchi district of Ghana with the view of generating deeper insights into the interplay between decentralization outcomes and prevailing social, economic, and cultural realties of the people. Data were collected from both secondary and primary sources. The main findings of the study indicate that sub-district structures do not provide an effective platform for citizen participation. Elections were found to primarily be an instrument for demanding accountability from assembly members. Finally, field services were found not to be responsive to the needs of citizens.     

Fifteen Years After Decentralization by Devolution: Political‐administrative Relations in Tanzanian Local Government

One of the professed goals of the 1998 Tanzanian Local Government Reform Program, entailing substantial decentralization, was to provide for a democratic administrative set up in local government. Elected local councils were invested with responsibilities for a wide range of policy sectors and services; the local administrative staff, formerly recruited and instructed by central government, would be appointed by and accountable to the local councils. A well‐functioning local politico‐administrative system was considered paramount to improve service delivery and ensure control of decision making by the local community. This article reports on research into the relations between councilors and administrators in two Tanzanian municipalities. Overall, these relations were found to be tense and full of discordance, caused by clashing role perceptions and mutual distrust. The research suggests that the main factor underlying the behavior and attitudes of councilors and administrators is the very system of public administration, which — despite the ambitions expressed in the Local Government Reform Program — remains very centralistic in character. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

政府间财政关系的国际比较和借鉴

建立合理的政府间财政关系是分税制改革的目标。始于1994年的中国分税制改革仍存在诸多问题。在市场经济下,从事权、财权及转移支付角度重新审视我国财政管理体制,并借鉴国际成功经验,是构建新型的政府间财政关系的一条捷径。     

基层法院审判委员会“放权”改革的过程研究——以对某法院法官的访谈为素材

从过程的角度来看,基层法院审判委员会的“放权”是法院内部各层次行动者以最高法院推行的审判委员会改革为契机,在审判委员会自身功能逐渐弱化、其他替代性机制功能逐渐强大的条件下,以法院的组织利益、中间组织的部门利益以及法官的个人利益为中心进行公共选择的结果。这样一种公共选择的逻辑,最终使得审判委员会的“放权”被异化“放权”不但没有减弱反而加强了法院对法官的控制,法官的独立审判在很大程度上演变成了一种“咨询型”审判。     

Destination Based Indirect Taxation: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Development of a strategy to foster strong economic growth was seen by the international community as a key aspect to nation building and sustaining the end of the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Tax policy was a key aspect of the strategy, but the very decentralized institutional arrangements and limited cooperation between the governments complicated the design. This paper reviews and assesses the indirect tax structure that has been the focus of the first five years. Among the findings are the importance associated with creating destination-based revenue attribution, the strong tendencies for tax competition, the unwillingness to accept formula-based revenue distribution, and the high administrative and compliance costs that result from structuring a system to achieve all of the necessary goals in a decentralized government context.     

Fiscal Decentralization,Flat Administrative Structure,and Local Government Size: Evidence and Lessons from China

This paper examines the effects of fiscal decentralization and flat administrative structure on local budget size and program outlays. We test three related theoretical hypotheses in China's adoption of province‐over‐county scheme of financial administration. We provide evidence that both decentralization of expenditure and decentralization of revenue increase the size of local budgets; that the impact of the former far outweighs that of the latter with local budgets on a rising trajectory; and that discretion grants localities more means to increase their budget. These results show that as China's reform deepens the proportion of local outlay on administration declines because of more local discretion from eliminating the prefecture bypass between the province and counties. But neither decentralization nor increased local discretion has allocated more local resources for education, and both contribute to increasing outlay on economic development. The paper formulates tentative policy recommendations that carry potential application for other countries. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decentralization in Italy and the Troubles of Federalization

Since the mid-1990s, Italy has made significant steps towards federalism, decentralizing political, fiscal and administrative powers, also by means of a major constitutional reform. Yet, 20 years after the beginning of this process, the country is experiencing problems in finalizing these reforms towards a stable federal architecture. This article examines Italy as a case of failed federalization. Adopting a long-term focus inspired by the ‘gradual institutional change’ approach, we argue that federalization has been trapped between a rather anomalous (and pathological) alliance between a persistent centralism, which prevailed when Italy was born as a state in 1861, and an ever-present strong tradition of localism. This approach allows us to show the very incremental nature of institutional change and to map changes and continuities along the 150 years of the Italian state, identifying both political and cultural factors that help to explain this unfulfilled journey towards federalism.     

Inter-local-government partnership for urban management in decentralizing Indonesia: from below or above? Kartamantul (Greater Yogyakarta) and Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta) compared

Under the new decentralization policy, local governments in Indonesia tend to be inward-looking in orientation. Many local governments have exploited the local resources even more intensively, and they are not concerned with the socio-economic conditions of the larger region of which they are part. Within the context of metropolitan areas, there has been almost no effective cooperation among the bordering districts and municipalities to promote the metropolitan development. Against this backdrop, the study examines and compares the institutional partnership and governance in two Indonesia's metropolitan areas, namely Kartamantul (Greater Yogyakarta) and Jabodetabek (Greater Jakarta).     

基于“权力清单”、“权利清单”和“负面清单”的简政放权模式分析

简政放权是深化政府改革、加快政府职能转变的关键之举,是深化改革的总开关.选择通过“权力清单”、“权利清单”和“负面清单”实行新简政放权模式,已成为行政体制机制改革寻求新突破,进而推进国家治理体系和治理能力现代化的一种全新尝试.由三张“清单”夯实的简政放权模式,体现了中国特色的法治精神,也将深刻影响法治中国的整体性建设.