Decentralization, Democracy, and Development in Africa
About this ebook
Most of the literature on decentralization and development emphasizes questions of institutional design and policy, but here the harder-to-pin-down political patterns marking the workings of decentralization are the main focus of analysis. The debates on development, through the case studies, are connected to the scholarly literatures on comparative federalism, comparative decentralization, and local democracy.
The main conclusion that emerges from the studies in the book is that no magic formula that can turn countries into peaceful, stable, and prosperous democracies overnight exists. Furthermore, there are risks involved in importing formal institutions without regard to the local historical, political, social, and economic context.
The chapters of this book were originally published as a special issue in Regional and Federal Studies.
About the author
Jan Erk is the Jan C. Smuts Memorial Fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK. He completed his doctorate at McGill University and his postdoctoral studies at the University of Toronto, in Canada. In 2018, he will become a fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in South Africa.
