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Local Democracy, Democratic Decentralisation and Rural Development: Theories, Challenges and Options for Policy
Author(s) -
Johnson Craig
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
development policy review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.671
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1467-7679
pISSN - 0950-6764
DOI - 10.1111/1467-7679.00149
Subject(s) - decentralization , democracy , sine qua non , accountability , autonomy , poverty , constructive , development economics , political science , economics , economic growth , politics , law , process (computing) , computer science , operating system
Democratic decentralisation is often presented as the sine qua non of rural poverty reduction. But there is little evidence that either democracy or decentralisation is necessary for poverty reduction in rural or urban areas, and indeed some evidence that they are counter‐productive. There are success stories to report, however. They are cases where three conditions have been met: an appropriate balance between autonomy and accountability; constructive support from external actors; and a commitment to democratic deepening. It is worth building on these conditions because democratic activity is not merely an instrumental good; it also has intrinsic benefits for the rural poor.