POLITICAL-ANALYSIS OF DECENTRALIZATION

There are many works on decentralization, but few of them have studied in a systematic way the power relations that are associated with the transfer of attributions from a superior level to an inferior level of government. In order to compensate for these shortcomings a conceptua l framework and two research proposals are formulated about the differ ent components of decentralization and the power relations pertaining to them. The model is then applied to various decentralization policie s which were adopted since the 1980s in different countries. Two main conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, in the power relation s between the actors of the different levels of government, those of t he superior level are maintaining their domination by controlling the more important resources in the new relationships created by the decen tralization policies. Second, the actors of the superior level of gove rnment are seeking to present their domination as plausible with refer ence to some values generally associated with centralization or decent ralization.