Decentralisation in Latin America 40 years later

Jun 10

In 1995, Andrew Nickson, a leading scholar on decentralisation (Honorary Reader in Public Management and Latin American Development at the International Development Department, University of Birmingham) wrote the first English-language book on local government in Latin America.

At that time there were also very few works on the subject in Spanish or Portuguese. The tardy appearance of works on such a topic reflected the long history of centralization and the long-standing neglect of academic investigation of sub-national governance in the region. The information available was so limited that in the case of some countries (notably Argentina) it was even difficult to obtain an accurate figure on something as basic as the number of municipalities. The book covered the history of local government since the late colonial period, its legal status, its structure, local service provision, local finance, electoral system, administrative organization, citizen participation, and inter-municipal relations. It also provided descriptive profiles of municipal government in 18 countries in the region.

You can download the work in English here: https://decentralization.net/2024/05/decentralization-in-latin-america-after-40-years-work-in-progress/