Manipulating Political Decentralisation
Can autocrats establish representative subnational governments? And which strategies of manipulation are available if they would like to reduce the uncertainty caused by introducing political decentralisation? In the wake of local government reforms, several states across the world have introduced legislation that provides for subnational elections. This does not mean that representative subnational governments in these countries are all of a certain standard. Political decentralisation should not be confused with democratisation, as the process is likely to be manipulated in ways that do not produce meaningful avenues for political participation and contestation locally.
Using examples from Africa, Lovise Aalen and Ragnhild L. Muriaas propose five requirements for representative subnational governments and four strategies that national governments might use to manipulate the outcome of political decentralisation. The case studies of Ethiopia, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda illustrate why autocrats sometimes are more open to competition at the subnational level than democrats.
Manipulating Political Decentralisation provides a new conceptual tool to assess representative subnational governments' quality, aiding us to build theories on the consequences of political decentralisation on democratisation.
Lovise Aalen is a Political Scientist and Research Director at Chr. Michelsen Institute. Her research interests include institutional solutions in divided societies, including power sharing, federalism, and decentralisation.
Ragnhild L. Muriaas is Professor in Political Science at the University of Bergen and an Associated Senior Researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute. Her key research interest is explaining variation in the inclusionary aspects of African regimes.
In Manipulating Political Decentralisation: Africas Inclusive Autocrats, Lovise Aalen and Ragnhild Muriaas provide a timely and thorough analysis of how incumbent elites can employ strategies that undermine decentralization. Through careful studies of Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, and South Africa, they demonstrate that the impact of decentralization is not closely related to regime type. Rather, it depends on the extent to which elites can create institutional weaknesses, maintain central party dominance over the local level, and limit opposition control to regional enclaves. Well-written and carefully researched, this book provides important insights into the politics of decentralization and a much-needed note of caution to those expecting decentralization necessarily limits political capture.
Ellen Lust, Yale University
Although there is broad recognition that subnational elections need not generate the expected benefits of local democracy, Aalen and Muriaas provide an unusually thorough, systematic, and grounded analysis of the factors and dynamics that shape the relationship between decentralization and democracy. This work is invaluable to scholars and practitioners interested in understanding the forms, roles, and potential effects of political decentralization in Africa and beyond.
Paul Smoke, New York University
Conceptualising Comparative Politics: Polities, Peoples, and Markets
Edited by Anthony Spanakos
(Montclair State University)
and
Francisco Panizza
(London School of Economics)
Conceptualising Comparative Politics seeks to bring a distinctive approach to comparative politics by rediscovering the disciplines rich conceptual tradition and inter-disciplinary foundations. It aims to fill out the conceptual framework on which the rest of the subfield draws but to which books only sporadically contribute, and to complement theoretical and conceptual analysis by applying it to deeply explored case studies. The series publishes books that make serious inquiry into fundamental concepts in comparative politics (crisis, legitimacy, credibility, representation, institutions, civil society, reconciliation) through theoretically engaging and empirically deep analysis.
4. Conceptualizing Comparative Politics
Edited by Anthony Petros Spanakos and Francisco Panizza
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State-Diaspora Relations in the Latin American-Southern Europe Corridor
Ana Margheritis
6. What Kind of Democracy?
Participation, Inclusiveness and Contestation
Kate
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7. Trust and Terror
Social Capital and the Use of Terrorism as a Tool of Resistance
Ammar Shamaileh
8. Manipulating Political Decentralisation
Africas Inclusive Autocrats
Lovise Aalen and Ragnhild L. Muriaas
First published 2018
by Routledge
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The right of Lovise Aalen and Ragnhild L. Muriaas to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Aalen, Lovise, author. | Muriaas, Ragnhild L., 1973- author.
Title: Manipulating political decentralisation : Africas inclusive
autocrats / Lovise Aalen and Ragnhild L. Muriaas.
Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. | Series: Conceptualising
comparative politics ; 8
Identifiers: LCCN 2017025149 (print) | LCCN 2017028207 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315472416 (Master) | ISBN 9781315472409 (WebPDF) |
ISBN 9781315472393 ( ePub) | ISBN 9781315472386 (Mobipocket/
Kindle) | ISBN 9781138203037 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Decentralization in government--Africa. |
Central-local government relations--Africa. | Ethiopia--Politics and
government--1991- | Malawi--Politics and government--1994- |
Uganda--Politics and government--1979- | South Africa--Politics and
government--1994-Classification: LCC JS7525 (ebook) | LCC JS7525
.A25 2018 (print) | DDC 320.8096--dc23LC record available at
https://lccn.loc.gov/2017025149
ISBN: 978-1-138-20303-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-47241-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Sunrise Setting Ltd, Brixham, UK
