336 Planning Theory 7(3)

G. Shabbir Cheema and Dennis A. Rondinelli (eds), Decentralizing Govern-

ance: Emerging Concepts and Practices. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution
Press, 2007, 326 pp., ISBN: 978 0815713890, US$28.95 (pbk).

Decentralizing Governance is the first in a series focusing on ‘Innovative

Governance in the 21st Century’. Edited by the late Dennis Rondinelli, and
G. Shabbir Cheema, it is published almost 25 years after their influential work
(Cheema and Rondinelli, 1983; Rondinelli et al., 1983) advocated the concept
of decentralization within the international development policy community.
Decentralization was seen as a way of promoting democracy and efficiency, and
from the 1990s, it became a key element of the ‘good governance’ agenda of
international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank. While
decentralization has been associated with neo-liberal agendas, such as de-
regulation and privatization, and new public management approaches, it has
been promoted by proponents across the political spectrum and numerous and
diverse interpretations and applications have emerged.
While decentralization was initially seen as an intra-governmental process of
deconcentrating, delegating or devolving powers and functions from central
government respectively to field agencies, parastatals, or more radically to
elected local government, the concept has broadened in terms of the ‘good
governance’ agenda to include ‘transparent, representative, accountable, and
participatory systems of institutions and procedures for public decision-making’
(Cheema and Rondinelli, p. 2). Cheema and Rondinelli, and Hyden, provide
useful overviews on the evolution of ideas about decentralization, and chapters
reflect on different aspects of this shift.
In contrast to the earlier high hopes for decentralization, there is now a
growing discourse questioning many of the initial assumptions that it necessarily
promotes democracy, efficiency and development. Decentralizing Governance
demonstrates a growing recognition of the complexities of decentralization, and
several chapters show how it has been shaped by highly politicized processes,
complex local realities and legacies of the past. In Mexico, for example, Brindle
argues that current practice is influenced by levels of authoritarianism and
clientelism, which has resulted in uneven outcomes. Similarly, Carino shows that
in the Philippines, while there is greater participation, civil society is weak, and
decentralization has inadvertently strengthened the position of local warlords
and political bosses. Blunt and Turner argue that political decentralization does
not appear to result in a reduction in poverty, and parochialism, unfunded
mandates, lack of local capacity, continued central control, and corruption
are evident in some countries. Several other chapters point to the limits of
decentralization in its application in various contexts.
Most authors are policy analysts linked to international development
agencies, and many chapters explore how decentralization processes can be
enhanced or improved in developing countries. Despite the usefulness of
these contributions, they remain largely embedded within the concerns of these
agencies, and continue to confirm the criticism that decentralization discourse
is overwhelmingly technocratic and under-theorized (Akihiri, 2004). Smoke

Downloaded from plt.sagepub.com at CHINESE UNIV HONG KONG LIB on February 21, 2015
 Book Reviews 337

and Hyden, however, adopt a more critical stance, and both argue for more
strategic and less prescriptive approaches. Smoke critiques the Western techno-
cratic construct of decentralization, and its failure to consider context or
process. He argues that an approach based on developed country systems
results in overly comprehensive, unworkable reforms that overwhelm local
capacity, and are founded on unrealistic expectations about how government
departments and agencies will work together. Instead, historical and contextual
factors, power bases, political identities and capacities govern how decentraliz-
ation unfolds in particular contexts. Implementation is frequently neglected.
Similarly, Hyden argues that donors frequently promote standardized policy
prescriptions that do not recognize African contexts and realities. This is a long-
standing criticism of the approaches used by international development
organizations, and the call for more contextually informed and grounded policy
design echoes arguments made by several planning theorists.
Although the book provides a timely overview of recent experiences and
contemporary policy ideas and debates on decentralization, planners are likely
to be frustrated by the minimal consideration of the way planning links to these
processes, experiences and debates. Some chapters contain glimpses of these
linkages, and a few examine specific issues such as coastal management, natural
resource management, and managing informality. Yet decentralization has
been an important influence underlying the recent resurgence of planning
(especially strategic planning), particularly in developing countries, and the
current space given to planning is in part due to its purported role in promot-
ing ‘good governance’. Several authors see planning as a form of governance,
linking spatial planning to ideas of ‘joined up’ governance, integrated develop-
ment, and inter-sectoral integration. In developing countries in particular, the
call for decentralization was in part a response to the crisis of services and infra-
structure in major cities, which it was argued, was the result of high levels of
centralization, as well as neglect of the cities. Contemporary approaches such
as the Cities Alliance’s city development strategies, South Africa’s integrated
development plans and the adoption of local development plans are in part
located within the promotion of decentralization and the ‘good governance’
agenda. Planners, however, could also learn from the broader experience of
decentralization, and the recognition of its complex, uneven and politically
based outcomes. More studies linking political and institutional processes to
planning could be helpful in thinking about the prospects for planning and its
likely outcomes.
This is a useful book: it contains helpful overviews of evolving thinking and
empirical findings, and varying positions are aired. Nevertheless, most chapters
are firmly located within the discourse of international development agencies.
Several chapters recognize that decentralization is not an end or necessary good
in its own right, and that forms of both centralization and decentralization might
be needed in various contexts. As might be expected in a volume of this size,
with 16 chapters, contributions are somewhat uneven. Other weaknesses
include overgeneralization across countries and a neglect of the varying
experiences of decentralization in developed countries. Yet the overwhelming

Downloaded from plt.sagepub.com at CHINESE UNIV HONG KONG LIB on February 21, 2015
338 Planning Theory 7(3)

question remains as to whether the concept of decentralization still has value

given critiques and disappointing outcomes. Although the editors suggest that
it does, the evidence presented in their book is more ambiguous.

References
Akihiri, J. (2004) ‘Localised or Localising Democracy: Gender, Political Space and
Decentralization in Contemporary Uganda’, PhD thesis, University of the
Witwatersrand.
Cheema, S. and Rondinelli, D. (1983) Decentralization and Development: Policy
Implementation in Developing Countries. Beverley Hills, CA: SAGE.
Rondinelli, D., Nellis, J. and Cheema, G. (1983) ‘Decentralization in Developing
Countries: A Review of Recent Experience’, Working Paper 581, World Bank Staff,
Washington, DC.

Alison Todes and Amanda Williamson

University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, alison.todes@wits.ac.za,
amanda.williamson@wits.ac.za

Downloaded from plt.sagepub.com at CHINESE UNIV HONG KONG LIB on February 21, 2015