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Regionalization, administrative reform and democratization: Nicaragua 1979–1984
Author(s) -
Downs Charles
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
public administration and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-162X
pISSN - 0271-2075
DOI - 10.1002/pad.4230070404
Subject(s) - democratization , decentralization , dictatorship , local government , politics , political science , government (linguistics) , public administration , state (computer science) , central government , democracy , law , computer science , linguistics , philosophy , algorithm
The article discusses the major events and debates that have taken place during the reform and democratization of subnational government in Nicaragua from the overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship to late 1984. Developments during this period highlight five distinct areas of reform that must be addressed as part of any process of state democratization: (a) selection and maintenance of local officials; (b) integration of popular participation; (c) definition of the range of local authority; (d) resources for local development; and (e) relation to other levels of government. These issues are addressed through a discussion focusing heavily on local government during the first 3 years, then on the experience of the newly created regional governments and decentralization beginning in mid—1982, and finally on the early—and quite divergent—experience with the development of zonal government between the municipal and regional levels. The specific resolution of these five sets of issues is part of the development of the revolutionary process in Nicaragua, and will strongly shape the political and developmental significance of the resulting local government.