Local Governance and Decentralization: Concepts and Issues

1. Local Governance and Decentralization: Concepts and Issues Compiled and presented by: NIAZ AHMED KHAN Ph.D. (Wales), Post Doc. (Oxford) Country Representative-Bangladesh, International Union for Conservation of Nature; Professor of Development Studies, University of Dhaka; and Senior Commonwealth Fellow, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, UK

2. Concepts and Connotations • Bedeviled with widespread ramifications and diverse connotations. • Local Governance • Local Governance is defined as the exercise of economic, political, administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at the local level (UNDP 2000:27). • Refers to systems of managing a community’s affair at the local level … Examples include clan, community leadership councils, village or neighborhood councils, local government etc. (Internal MDGD Paper cited UNDP 2000:28)

3. Concepts and Connotations (Continued) • Decentralisation: • “decentralisation means reversing the concentration of administration at the centre and conferring power and authority to lower [and sub national] units of government” (Siddiquee 1997:24). • [decentralisation connotes] the transfer of planning, decision making, or administrative authority from central governments to its field organisations, local administrative units, semi-autonomous and parastatal organisations, local governments or non-governmental organisations... (Rondinelli and Cheema 1983:18)

4. A Further Understanding: Typology, Theoretical Discourses, Genesis • A popular typology of local governance and decentralisation • The key theoretical debate over the study of local governance and decentralisation • A brief history of principal administrators and (decentralised) units of the structure of public administration in Bangladesh from the ancient through the British times [please refer to the additional literature supplied]

5. The Current Set-up of Decentralized Local Governance in Bangladesh Source: Local Government Division, Government of Bangladesh

6. Dominant Characteristics of Decentralized Local Governance in Bangladesh • domination by and complete dependence on national/central government; • grossly inadequate mobilisation of local resources; • limited or lack of participation of the rural poor in the decentralised bodies; • successive ruling regimes’ marginal and superficial commitment to devolution or decentralisation in practice.

7. The Major Obstacles to Effective Implementation of Decentralisation Policies in Bangladesh • Unrepresentative character of the decentralised local institutions, • Strict bureaucratic and political control (and manipulation) by central government, • Inadequate mobilisation of local resources, • Lack of commitment of the political leadership, • Dominance of rural elites in local decision making, • Inefficient administrative coordination among nation building public agencies, • Administrative corruption and connivance, • The chronic dependence of local institutions on central government

8. A Recent Study on Upazilasin Bangladesh • The election in 481 Upazilas were held in January 2009 and a total of 481 chairs and 962 Vice-chairs including 481 women were elected. [Source:UNDP Documents] • It appears from the study that UpazilaParishad has become a 'local state' of 'diarchy'. • While the Constitution has guaranteed the dicentralizationof authority to local government, it is continuously hindered by the central bureaucracy and sometimes by the local MPs. • The UpazilaParishadhas often remained practically inoperative.