Raich, Uri2012-06-182012-06-182005-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8297Empowerment of local governments and citizens is a primary object of decentralization. Using the analytic lens of empowerment, the author explores the nature of decentralized governance and how this type of structure is likely to be more or less empowering. His primary concern is fiscal decentralization, specifically the association between fiscal determinants and the degree of empowerment of both citizens and local governments. The author's main argument is that both the revenue and expenditure characteristics of local public finances have an effect on the degree of empowerment. His hypothesis is that in a context of decentralized local governance, empowerment is most likely to occur when three conditions prevail: low costs of participation, large and flexible budgets, and a high proportion of tax revenues from a local base. But these ingredients for empowerment will not necessarily produce outcomes that are progressive and pro-poor. The author contrasts the intrinsic and the instrumental approaches to empowerment, but he does not assess the impact of empowerment on instrumental outcomes. For this hypothesis to support an instrumentalist perspective on empowerment, further empirical work must be conducted.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMSALMASSETSAUTHORITYBLOCK GRANTSBORROWINGBUDGET DEFICITSBUDGETARY AUTONOMYCAPITAL PROJECTSCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCENTRAL GOVERNMENTSCITIESCITIZEN PARTICIPATIONCITIZENSCONSTITUENCIESCREDIT CAPACITYDEBTDEBT SERVICEDECENTRALIZATIONDECENTRALIZATION PROCESSDECENTRALIZATION REFORMSDECISION MAKINGDECISION MAKING POWERDECISION-MAKINGDEMOCRACYDEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCEDEMOCRATIC RIGHTSDEMOCRATIZATIONDEVOLUTIONECONOMIC EFFICIENCYECONOMIC STABILITYEFFICIENT MARKETSELECTED OFFICIALSELECTED REPRESENTATIVESELECTORAL POLITICSELECTORAL SYSTEMEVASIONEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURE RESPONSIBILITIESEXTERNALITIESFINANCIAL PLANNINGFINANCIAL SYSTEMFISCALFISCAL CONDITIONSFISCAL DECENTRALIZATIONFISCAL GAPFISCAL GAPSFISCAL POLICYGOOD GOVERNANCEGOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATORSGOVERNMENT OFFICIALSGOVERNMENT REVENUESGOVERNMENT SERVICESINTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL RELATIONSINTERGOVERNMENTAL TRANSFERINTERGOVERNMENTAL TRANSFERSLACK OF TRANSPARENCYLATIN AMERICANLEGISLATIONLEGISLATIVE PROCESSLEGITIMACYLEVELS OF GOVERNMENTLOBBYINGLOCAL ACCOUNTABILITYLOCAL AUTHORITIESLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENT REVENUESLOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICESLOCAL GOVERNMENT TAXESLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL PUBLIC FINANCELOCAL REVENUELOCAL SPENDINGLOCAL TAXLOCAL TAXESMINISTERSNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSNATIONAL LEGISLATURESNATIONAL LEVELPOLITICAL DECENTRALIZATIONPOLITICAL ELITESPOLITICIANSPOSITIVE EXTERNALITIESPRIVATE SECTORPROPERTY TAXESPUBLIC AFFAIRSPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC FINANCEPUBLIC FINANCESPUBLIC OFFICIALSPUBLIC RESOURCESPUBLIC SERVICESREVENUE SOURCESSOCIAL WELFARESTATE APPARATUSSTATE INCOMESUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSSUBNATIONAL TAXESTAX BURDENTAX COLLECTIONTAX COMPLIANCETAX LIABILITIESTAX RATESTAX REVENUETAX REVENUESTAXATIONTRANSPARENCYWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-3705