Louis A. Picard Graduate School of Public and International Affairs University of Pittsburgh

Research Themes 1. Institutional patterns of Governance 2. Decentralized Democratic Models 3. Foreign Aid and Technical Assistance 4. Organizational and Institutional Capacity

2006 Current Project

Regional Variations in Local Governance “A Work in Progress”

Collaborators: Decentralization Project  Louis A. Picard, University of Pittsburgh  Jerry Silverman, World Bank (retired)  Elinor Ostrom, Indiana University

Question: To what extent should different cultural, historical, and political experiences be taken into account when formulating, and implementing decentralization policies, programs and projects?

Focus Activities that are directed toward institutionalization of democratic local governance-especially within “fragile” and transformational developmental states.

Overall concern  To what extent are there universal functions of government that are a) core functions and b) universal in nature.  To what extent regional variations impact upon or change these core functions.

Four Potential Variations 1. Imperial Legacies 2. Political Culture, Social Values and Governance 3. Contemporary External Influences (Foreign Aid) 4. Informal and Parallel Functions of Governance

Four Generalized Regions  Europe and Eurasia  Latin America and the Caribbean  Asia and the Near East  Sub-Saharan Africa

Key Modifier Four Macro-regions need to be Sub- Divided into smaller regional units (and into political. Social and cultural entities)

Decentralization 1. Administrative- Delegated, Deconcentrated Capacity 2. Fiscal- Extent of Collection and Expenditure of Local Revenue 3. Political- Bottom up (Primary but not exclusive Focus

Tentative Universal Functions 1. Governance- Legal, Expected Roles, Intra-state Relationships; 2. Governance and Markets- Debates about Command Economies 3. Principles of Governance

Principles of Governance 1. Provision vs. Production of Goods and Services 2. Difference between Provision and Production (Implications of Exchange Theory for Contracting) 3. Types of Goods

Ostrom Framework 1. Subtractability of Use- 2. Excludability and the Free Rider Problem 3. Difficulty of Excluding Potential Beneficiaries

Low vs. High Use and Exclusion  Toll Goods (Low) vs. Private Goods (High level of Exclusion)  Public Goods (Knowledge, Public Safety)- Difficult to Exclude)  Common Pool Resources (Non-Renewable- water, forests, grazing areas)

Joint Use vs. Subractability  Ostrom Refers to Public and Common Pool Goods as “Collective Goods”  Jointness of consumption (bridges, irrigation systems)  Factors of Size- Capital Scale

Governance and Service  Factors of Size, Difficulty in Subtractability, and Normative Values  Key Value: Public vs. Private- Basis of Human Judgment  Goal: Matching Provision with Nature of Goods and Value Systems of Communities

Regional Variations: Some Examples- Imperial Legacies  Land Based- Austria, Germany, Russia, Ottoman Empires  Overseas- Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, etc.  Western Hemisphere Dominance  Japan vs. China

Political Culture, Social Values and Governance (Huntington Polemic)  Secular vs. Religious Tendencies  “Ethnic” Values  Nation-States vs. Dominant vs. Minority, Multiple Nation States, Spillover Nation States  Nature of Democratic vs. Hierarchical Values

External Assistance  Debates about Public vs. Private Sector (SAPS)  Failure of Growth and Distribution (Limits of Economic Development)  Merging of Governance and Security Focus  “Soft” vs. “Hard” Donors  Multi-lateral Regimes (World Bank System)

Parallel Governance and Non- Formal Systems 1. Persistent- traditional, religious leadership 2. Adaptive- non-formal transportation systems 3. Reactive- Religious, ethnic networks 4. Intermediation- Civic Groups

Next Steps  Examine the implications of Regional variations on the “universal functions” of decentralized governance

Discussion Questions, Challenges, Feedback