Nigeria and the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development: Navigating Content, Context, Issues and Prospects

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adeniyi Semiu Basiru ◽  
Adewale Toyin Adepoju
Keyword(s):  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Federal System ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Development History ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
African Charter ◽  
Local Levels

This article examines the major provisions of the 2014 African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralisation, Local Governance and Local Development (hereafter the Charter) and the prognosis for the prospects of its actualisation in Nigeria. Specifically, it notes that if this Charter is viewed within the purview of the philosophical principles and values that undergird it, it seems novel. If it is domesticated and internalised by the Nigerian governing elites and their counterparts in other African countries, especially at the federal and local levels, it could be the springboard for ensuring development at grass-roots level. However, based on the evidence they gathered from the review of the country’s development history, the authors argue and submit that the objective of the Charter has a slim prospect of being realised in Nigeria, given the convoluted nature of the Nigerian federal state and the political environment that has sustained it. The article calls for the restructuring of the convoluted Nigerian federal system in order to allow peripheral governments to have more power and resources.

The Decentralization, Devolution and Local Governance Practices in Nepal: The Emerging Challenges and Concerns

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 43-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Chaudhary
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
National Level ◽  
Empirical Inquiry ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Governance Practices ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Local Levels ◽  
Power And Authority

Nepal has been facing political changes and systems over the decades. Presently Nepal has adopted the unitary federal political system. Under the system, devolution of power is shared to local levels in order to strengthen localism and development. The devolution is a broader concept of decentralization where power and authority are provided to a sub-national level of government constitutionally. This paper discusses the devolution and its implication on local levels that are directly related to local people and grass-roots democracy. The Constitution of Nepal 2015, Local Government Operations Act 2017, Inter Governmental Fiscal Transfer Act 2017 and other sectoral legislation and published related documents are reviewed for this paper. Besides, three numbers of local levels (rural municipalities) are taken as an empirical inquiry to find out the problems and challenges facing by local levels. The Constitution of Nepal 2015 provided enough power and authority to the local levels based on devolution under federalism. Despite that, the inadequacy of laws, and policies, and lacking coordination between local levels and center-province and poor mobilization are major challenges to local levels and the question of good governance and leadership is more pronounced in this regard. The relationship among the center, province and local levels is still debatable. Overall, the present collateral form of local governance is not being well functioned. The effectiveness of Leadership seems to be important to cope with local governance for local development and grass-roots democracy.

Alive and Well into the Fourth Decade of Their Bundestag Presence: A Tally of the Greens' Impact on the Federal Republic of Germany's Political Life and Public Culture

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 112-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrei S. Markovits ◽  
Joseph Klaver
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
German Politics ◽  
The Past ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Fourth Decade ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Local Levels

The Greens' impact on German politics and public life has been enormous and massively disproportional to the size of their electoral support and political presence in the country's legislative and executive bodies on the federal, state, and local levels. After substantiating the Greens' proliferating presence on all levels of German politics with numbers; the article focuses on demonstrating how the Greens' key values of ecology, peace and pacifism, feminism and women's rights, and grass roots democracy—the signifiers of their very identity—have come to shape the existence of all other German parties bar none. If imitation is one of the most defining characteristics of success, the Greens can be immensely proud of their tally over the past thirty plus years.

scholarly journals Moral Values and Ethics as Antidotes for Corruption in the South African Public Service and Administration

2021 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Lekubu ◽  
Omphemetse Sibanda
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
National Development ◽  
African Union ◽  
The South ◽  
Bureaucratic Corruption ◽  
African Charter ◽  
The Relationship

This paper examines the relationship between morals, ethics, public administration and corruption. The argument advanced is that morals and ethics are antidotes for bureaucratic corruption in public service and administration. Currently there seems to be low ethics and morality in public service and administration in South Africa. The discussions in this paper consider the obligations under the South African National Development plan 2030, African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption, the African Charter on Values and Principles of Public Service and Administration, and the African Charter on the Values and Principles of Decentralization, Local Governance and Local Development for a corruption free and ethical public service and administration.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of the Federal State in the Context of a Coronavirus Pandemic

Federalism ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 145-168
Author(s):  
M. V. Gligich-Zolotareva ◽  
N. I. Lykjanova
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Federal System ◽  
Sharp Decline ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Public Power ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
Entire World ◽  
The One ◽  
Local Levels

Coronavirus pandemic in 2020 shock the entire world. Some countries with federal system have troubles, because the results of their functioning in the new conditions was inconsistent: some countries showed a low level of fatality from the coronavirus in general controlled the situation, but others had the highest incidence and in the background – the destabilization of the socio-economic and even political situation. The article analyzes the main trends of global development in the context of a pandemic, foreign and domestic experience of functioning of system of public authorities on federal, regional and local levels, measures to ensure the smooth operation of public authorities at all levels in a pandemic, as well as problems in the functioning of public authorities in the new conditions. This allows us to conclude that federal state system, on the one hand, has its advantages in countering these threats, including the possibility of a differentiated approach to different territories, well-established mechanisms of interaction between the levels of public power, and, on the other hand, it is characterized by a some types of risks, such as an imbalance of power, authority and resources in the federal system and a lag in making the necessary decision. It may be the reason of sharp decline in the pace of socio-economic development and the situation in the regions out of the control of the federal authorities. In the context of a pandemic, there are certain problems associated with insufficient coordination between levels of government, but they can be overcome through the use of various management mechanisms.

The Political Economy of Local Governance in Yemen

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 45-69
Author(s):  
Benoit Challand ◽  
Joshua Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Past ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Self Help ◽  
Local Initiatives ◽  
Self Rule

This paper provides an historical exploration of local governance in Yemen across the past sixty years. It highlights the presence of a strong tradition of local self-rule, self-help, and participation “from below” as well as the presence of a rival, official, political culture upheld by central elites that celebrates centralization and the strong state. Shifts in the predominance of one or the other tendency have coincided with shifts in the political economy of the Yemeni state(s). When it favored the local, central rulers were compelled to give space to local initiatives and Yemen experienced moments of political participation and local development.

Exploring the Uncharted Territory of Devolution in Zimbabwe

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jephias Mapuva ◽  
George P Miti
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Public Affairs ◽  
Participatory Governance ◽  
Enabling Environment ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Local Levels

Devolution, which was incorporated into the Constitution of Zimbabwe through section 264, is a new phenomenon in Zimbabwe. This incorporation came about because of the need for participatory governance and the devolution of power away from the centre. Over the years, local governance has been informed by a plethora of pieces of legislation that do not provide an enabling environment for citizen participation, giving Zimbabwe’s local government a chequered history that excludes citizens from participating in public affairs that affect their lives. An analysis of section 264 of the Constitution revealed that devolution has the propensity to enhance transparency, efficiency and effectiveness as well as the fulfilment of central government’s responsibilities at provincial and local levels. This article argues that the belated implementation of the devolution of power has delayed improved service delivery, effectiveness, efficiency and accountability within local governance. This article further seeks to explain how the implementation of section 264 of the Constitution can bring about good local governance.

ARNOVA's Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Jeavons
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Voluntary Organizations ◽  
Public Charities ◽  
State And Local ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Local Levels

There are serious gaps in our knowledge and understanding of how public policy at the federal, state, and local levels affects the work of a wide array of nonprofit organizations. On October 4th and 5th, 2010, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Organizations (ARNOVA), with the support and encouragement of the Bill and Melinda Gates, Kresge and C.S. Mott foundations, convened a group of thirty nonprofit scholars and leaders to explore what we know about the impact of public policy on the nonprofit sector. The conference focused on how public policy helps or harms the ability of nonprofit organizations, particularly but not exclusively public charities, to fulfill their missions.

Community Asset Management A Good Practice in Participatory Local Governance

2005 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Wendy Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
Asset Management ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Governance Process ◽  
Development Service

This article places the concept of community asset management (CAM), the focus of a DFID Knowledge and Research (KAR) project which has been described elsewhere, in the context of the broader concepts of participatory local governance and good practice, themselves the subjects of other recent KAR projects. It is contended herein that it is imperative to local development, service delivery and poverty reduction that these concepts are fully operationalised by the stakeholders involved in the governance process. The article argues that, not only is CAM as a community participation approach a good practice in good governance ‘in its own right‘, but the very practice of the CAM approach involves the operationalisation of other participatory local governance principles.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document