Decentralization

Decentralization is a challenging, complex process of dispersing decision making closer to the point of service or action (i.e., from central government institution to local government) and is the institutional framework in which political, social, and economic decisions are made and carried out. Decentralization means reassigning responsibility, authority, and resources that have a significant degree of autonomy and accountability so that there is system of co-responsibility between institutions of governance at the central, regional, and local levels.

The term attracted attention in the 1950s and 1960s, when British and French colonial administrations prepared colonies for independence by devolving responsibilities for certain programmers to local authorities. In the 1980s, decentralization came to the forefront of the development agenda alongside the renewed global emphasis on governance and human-centered ...