DECENTRALIZATION FOR DEVELOPMENT : THE FORM AND SUBSTANCE OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES

The author first argues that decentralization is inherently limited both because it presupposes a stabilized environment (the alternative would be anarchy) and because of unavoidable conflicts of interest between the main types of governmental field administration -- by geographical prefecture and by development sector. The author then notes that, in general, organizations move towards greater or lesser degrees of decentralization either for organizational reasons (the organization"s "environment", available technology, and goals) or because they are spurred on by movements for social and behavioral reform. In the author"s view, most development strategies calling for political or administrative decentralization derive from the latter causes: decentralization and its corollary, popular participation, are deemed necessary to reverse the rigid social and governmental structures that exploit the poor. Actually, however, the substance of these strategies belies their rhetoric; for in practice they deny local entities real power and promote participation to reinforce rather than to reform existing central power structures. In the author"s view, this is because these "decentralization" strategies are ultimately aimed at satisfying the basic needs of the poor and in effecting a more equitable distribution of wealth -- a process impossible without a centralized power. Despite their contention that Third World development is an endogenous process unrelated to Western models, all such strategies have arisen in the West and reflect Western philosophy and Western experiences of industrialization and mass society. The author concludes by proposing a more modest approach in which decentralization in selected areas is coupled with structured participation. He advocates a turning from the social and behavioral reform viewpoint which, confusing means with ends, provides little guidance, towards the more sober and flexible viewpoint of organizational theory. A 92-item bibliography (1945-79) is appended.