Question

Essay on Decentralization and Public Service Delivery

Answer 1

i am giving you the attachment .please see it it will help you a lot

12a6e1fc5754d6097c8d2a9ab7876523.pdf

Answer 2

Since the 1980s many developing countries have started to devolve central government functions to local jurisdictions. This shift has occurred partly in response to political pressures for local autonomy, but also to deliver public services more efficiently. It has been argued that decentralization improves governance and public service delivery by increasing: • Allocative efficiency—through better matching of public services to local preferences. • Productive efficiency—through increased accountability of local governments to citizens, fewer levels of bureaucracy, and better knowledge of local costs. But decentralization has had mixed effects on public service delivery. Limited evidence suggests that the effectiveness of decentralized service delivery depends on the design of decentralization and on the institutional arrangements governing its implementation. Specifically, the argument that decentralization promotes allocative and productive efficiency assumes that the devolution of functions occurs within an institutional environment that provides political, administrative, and financial authority to local governments, along with effective channels of local accountability and central oversight. These channels include:• Voice mechanisms for citizens to express their views to government bodies. • Exit mechanisms for citizens to switch to nonpublic service providers or to move to other localities. • Central government laws, rules, budget constraints, and oversight over local government operations, and channels for local governments to influence central government decisions concerning them. • Public sector management arrangements that promote accountability— such as merit-based personnel policies and rules and arrangements promoting fiduciary accountability and constraining corruption. A recent study by the University of Maryland analyzed the validity of this argument by assessing decentralized health and education services in the Philippines and Uganda. Using surveys of government officials, households, health facilities, and schools, the study explored whether local governments are aware of local preferences and whether they adjust public service delivery accordingly. The study also tested the extent to which local governments contain corruption, costs, and other waste. Thus the study analyzed whether allocative and productive efficiency are achieved, as stated by the theory. In addition, the study assessed