Showing papers in "Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice in 2008"

A New Measure of Financial Openness

Abstract: We create a new index that measures the extent of openness in capital account transactions. Despite the abundance of literature and policy analyses regarding the effect of financial liberalization, the debate is far from settled. One of the reasons for that outcome is the lack of proper ways of measuring the extent of the openness in cross-border financial transactions. We seek to remedy this deficiency by creating an index aimed at measuring the extensity of capital controls based on the information from the IMF's Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions (AREAER). This paper details how we construct the data and where our index stands in relation to the extant literature. Given the intricacy of capital controls policies and regulations, the exercise of quantifying the extent of financial openness remains a challenging task. Nonetheless, our index makes a substantial contribution in terms of its coverage of countries and time period; the data are available for 181 countrie...

Exploring the concept of Governability

Abstract: In this paper a start is made in developing a conceptual model for the governability of a particular societal system based upon the (inter)active perspective on governance. Governability is seen as consisting of three main components, a system-to-be-governed (SG), a governance system (GS), and the interactions between these two (GI). The basis for conceptualizing the GS is the primary processes in which societal sectors specialize. These processes show characteristics by which they can be analyzed, such as their diversity, dynamics and complexity. The GS can be operationalized according to aspects of governance activities: elements, modes and orders of governance, and in the three major societal governance institutions: state, market, civil society and increasingly hybrid forms among them. The article also discusses the GI where one input is from the SG to the GS, defined as participatory interactions, and another from the GS to the SG which is seen as policy and management driven forms of intera...

Europeanization, Policy Learning, and New Modes of Governance

Abstract: Can a learning-based mode of governance, specifically the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), facilitate Europeanization? The argument is that, in policy areas where the Treaty base for European Union policy is thin or non-existent or where diverging political views hinder the development of law, modes of governance based on Council's guidelines, the co-ordination of national action plans, peer review of reforms, systematic benchmarking, performance indicators, and governance processes open to the regional-local level and the civil society produce convergence towards the EU goals and ultimately Europeanization without the need to create new EU legislation. By comparing evidence from the most mature OMC processes, this article finds that the relationship between learning, policy change, and Europeanization can break down at several points, and that evidence of learning is limited. This is due to deficiencies in the design of the OMC, the lack of participation, and the political/institutional comple...

Culture and welfare state: Values and social policy in comparative perspective

Abstract: Contents:1. The Culture of the Welfare State: Historical and Theoretical ArgumentsWim van Oorschot, Michael Opielka and Birgit Pfau-EffingerPART I: CULTURAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE WELFARE STATE: IDEAS OF THE GOOD SOCIETY2. Liberalism, Citizenship and the Welfare StateJulia O'Connor and Gillian Robinson3. Social-democratic Values in the European Welfare StatesSteinar Stjerno4. Conservatism and the Welfare State: Intervening to PreserveKees van Kersbergen and Monique Kremer5. Christian Foundations of the Welfare State: Strong Cultural Values in Comparative PerspectiveMichael OpielkaPART II: WORLDS OF WELFARE CULTURE6. European and American Welfare Values: Case-studies in Cash Benefits ReformRobert Walker7. Is There a Specific East-Central European Welfare Culture?Zsuzsa Ferge8. Welfare Policy Reforms in Japan and Korea: Cultural and Institutional FactorsIto PengPART III: CULTURAL CHANGE AND WELFARE REFORM9. Cultural Change and Path Departure: The Example of Family Policies in Conservative Welfare StatesBirgit Pfau-Effinger10. Cultures of Activation: The Shifting Relationship between Income Maintenance and Employment Promotion in the Nordic ContextBjorn Hvinden11. Unsettled Attachments: National Identity, Citizenship and WelfareJohn Clarke and Janet FinkPART IV: POPULAR WELFARE VALUES AND BELIEFS12. European Scope-of-Government Beliefs: The Impact of Individual, Regional, and National CharacteristicsJohn Gelissen13. Popular Deservingness Perceptions and Conditionality of Solidarity in EuropeWim van Oorschot14. Values of Work and Care Among Women in Modern SocietiesDetlev Lueck and Dirk Hofacker

Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age

Abstract: Blacked Out has been widely recognized for its balanced assessment of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the issue of government secrecy. The author, Professor Alasdair Roberts of Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, received the Louis Brownlow Book Award from the National Academy of Public Administration in 2006, the American Society for Public Administration’s Section on Public Administration Research book award in 2007, the Academy of Management’s Public and Nonprofit Division Best Book Award in 2007, and the International Political Science Association’s Research Committee on the Structure of Governance Charles Levine Memorial Board Prize in 2007. The scholarship is thorough and the subject matter is certainly topical. It is relatively easy to fill in the history of secrecy from the book’s publication in 2006 to today’s debates over the Iraq war and current scandals. FOIA was passed in 1966 and became a major issue during the Watergate investigation as reporters and law enforcement officials searched for evidence of White House involvement in the breakin at the Democratic Party offices and the subsequent cover-up. In the years following Watergate, access to information became a measure of democratic governance and the FOIA was the model adopted by many nations to assure accountability for government officials and to protect citizen rights. In fact, Blacked Out begins with an account of activists uncovering fraud among dealers of rationed goods in the poor community of Kelwara in the Indian state of Rajasthan in 2004. A banner reading ‘‘Democracy Is Transparency with Accountability to the People’’ in Hindi hung over the table as activists checked the dealers’ records. Rajasthan adopted its Right to Information Act soon thereafter and other Indian states followed (pp. 1–3). Similar laws have been enacted in Thailand, Japan, Mexico, Uganda, the UK and other nations. In the United States, government secrecy again became a major national issue as questions arose concerning the decision to invade Iraq in 2003. Secrecy surrounding the decision process and the roles of intelligence agencies still limits scrutiny of the decision. As Professor Roberts points out, while the ‘‘war on terrorism’’ requires greater secrecy in order to pursue and prosecute terrorists and their supporters, the Bush Administration’s penchant for secrecy pre-dates 9/11 and the war. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, in particular, was instrumental in restricting public access and, in fact, often made it difficult for government agencies to share information. However, notwithstanding the perception that the Bush administration has been far more secretive than its predecessors, laws established after the Watergate scandal have made it more difficult for officials to hide behind executive privilege or national security. Recent revelations concerning the torture of suspected terrorist prisoners, violations of law by the Justice Department, and other abuses of power certainly provide evidence that secrecy breaks down. New governments also open files and reveal the secrets of the old regimes. Also, ‘‘maelstroms of transparency’’ can develop as leaks of sensitive information increase as policy failures become more apparent, new technologies make it easier to leak information on a grand scale, and media Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Vol. 10, No. 4, 463–465, December 2008

Beyond Compliance: The Europeanization of Member States through Negative Integration and Legal Uncertainty

Abstract: Europeanization – that is the domestic impact of European integration on member states – is rightly attracting increasing attention, given the extent to which European integration determines domestic policies. However, the debate on Europeanization focuses predominantly on the conditions for successful compliance with European secondary law. This note argues that this focus insufficiently captures the implications of member states being part of a multi-level system. It is largely overlooked how negative integration (market making) and legal uncertainty about the implications of European law constrains domestic policy making.

Third Generation Policy Diffusion Studies and the Analysis of Policy Mixes: Two Steps Forward and One Step Back?

Abstract: Three features of Gilardi and Meseguer's recent announcement of the start of a “third generation” of diffusion research in Europe require evaluation. First, conceptualization of policy diffusion is considered a task completed by the first two “generations”. Second, the work of the second generation is located against the background of globalization, democratization and the trend towards the adoption of market instruments. And, third, methodological sophistication is equated with the development of large-n empirical methodologies. Each of these features is discussed in turn. We argue that diffusion studies remain seriously hindered by a lack of clarity about the dependent variable under examination; second, that the peculiar interest of the second generation in measuring the impact of large scale diffusion mechanisms such as democratization, globalization and market orientation has led to an unfortunate focus on the adoption of particular instruments and “settings” as the sole indicators of diffus...

The Europeanization of Public Policies: Introduction

Abstract: The European Union has influenced national public policies for more than five decades. The recent academic interest in the Europeanization of public policies, however, reveals processes and mechanisms that go beyond the change (or lack of it) brought about by the implementation of EU decisions at the domestic level. Although implementation is certainly one dimension of Europeanization, this concept is wider. It encompasses ‘‘processes of (a) construction (b) diffusion and (c) institutionalization of formal and informal rules, procedures, policy paradigms, styles, ‘ways of doing things’ and shared beliefs and norms which are first defined and consolidated in the making of EU public policy and politics and then incorporated in the logic of domestic discourse, identities, political structures and public policies’’ (Radaelli 2003: 30; see also Green Cowles et al. 2001, Ladrech 1994, Börzel and Risse 2003, Lenschow 2006, Palier et al. 2007: 39). Whilst the definition of Europeanization is surely the object of a lively debate (Olsen 2002, Radaelli 2007), the present definition, on which this special issue is based, captures the whole life-cycle of public policy, with possible feedback effects between the national level and the EU, focusing on processes rather than outcomes. Thus, we have chosen it because it gives us a suitable framework for the comparative policy analysis of Europeanization. Some authors have even questioned the notion of two distinct arenas by observing that ‘‘the [domestic and EU] levels are nothing but playing fields, where actors move between one and the other, and play with them’’ (Ravinet 2007: 24, our translation). Yet there are two playing fields in the end, not just one. Ravinet’s observation is nevertheless important because it draws attention to complex interaction effects, to actor-centred analysis, and to the strategic linkages between EU and domestic policy arenas (See also Sanchez Salgado and Woll 2007: 152). In a similar vein, Princen and

Towards Harmonization or Standardization in Governmental Accounting? The International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board Experience

Abstract: The main difference between harmonization and standardization processes lies in the degree of strictness of the accounting standards. Harmonization involves a reduction in accounting variations, while standardization entails moving towards the eradication of any variation. This distinction provides the basis for the present study. The purpose of this study is twofold: to analyse the degree of strictness of the IPSASs and to identify the sources of accounting diversity so that the potential of comparability of that international accounting framework can be evaluated. The methodology used enables areas of harmony or disharmony to be identified for IPSASB harmonization purposes. The results show that, given its high degree of regulatory strictness, the IPSASs model is a standardizing model. Potential sources of diversity are identified in areas such as capital assets as well as new research directions in the public sector formal harmonization.

The Interaction of Competition, Co-operation and Communication: Theoretical Analysis of Different Sources of Environmental Policy Convergence

Abstract: Comparative studies on cross-national policy transfer and diffusion emphasize an impressing degree of policy convergence in many areas. This holds true, in particular, for the environmental field. However, we are still confronted with limited knowledge about the mechanisms accounting for this phenomenon. Against this backdrop, we theoretically investigate the impact of three different convergence mechanisms that are generally seen as central sources of cross-national policy convergence: regulatory competition, international co-operation and transnational communication. In particular, our focus is on the analysis of the interaction of these three factors. As will be shown, the empirically rather likely interaction of different mechanisms constitutes a plausible explanation for the still puzzling gap between the theoretical prediction of a race to the bottom through regulatory competition and the lacking empirical support for this hypothesis.

Made to Measure? Europeanization, Goodness of Fit and Adaptation Pressures in EU Competition Policy and Regional Aid

Abstract: The measurement of Europeanization and adaptational pressures can be facilitated by three elements: an EU-wide perspective to enable a comparative assessment of impacts and outcomes; using a clear example of a new European-level policy initiative that impacts on all member states simultaneously; and a detailed knowledge of the ex ante and ex post situation in each country. This article incorporates these elements in a comparative case study of adaptational pressures and policy change under EU regional state aid policy, which casts doubt on the utility of goodness-of-fit propositions.

Social Policy and International Interventions in South East Europe

Abstract: lize the information. The Abu Ghraib scandal grew from a few pictures to thousands of pages of Department of Defense documents on the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) website that described abuses in other military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. The slow processing of FOIA requests has been an impediment to access, but ultimately information is released. Professor Roberts argues both sides of the secrecy issue, from the need for public scrutiny of government decisions to the need to limit transparency to protect national security. He argues that changes in governmental structure, privatization and closely linked networks of security agencies (the ‘‘opaque networks’’, as he calls them) have acted to limit public access to information. The closed model of corporate decision making is becoming common in government, as well. Public scrutiny of contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, is gaining support today. New technologies have facilitated both transparency and secrecy. The digitization of documents and the creation of databases certainly facilitate review, but more and more databases are being closed to public scrutiny because of the nature of the information they contain. Personal information raises privacy issues and proprietary information raises other issues. For those who think that the public should have access to almost all information, Professor Roberts’ argument shakes clear the need for some restraint. For those who think that national security concerns should always trump the public’s right to know and officials should be trusted, the argument provides ample evidence that abuses of power are too common to ignore. Finding a balance between the need for transparency and the need for secrecy is not as easy as one might wish.

Europeanization as Program Implementation: Effective and Democratic?

Abstract: Linking Europeanization to program implementation, I offer a contingent model that emphasizes the significance of two variables: ambiguity and complexity. Europeanization's success, i.e., its effectiveness and democratic accountability, is hypothesized to vary according to a program's level of ambiguity and complexity. Four types of Europeanization are identified and explored: administrative, adversarial, interpretative, and experimental. The model improves on arguments regarding Europeanization by identifying the conditions under which top-down and bottom-up approaches are appropriate, by rectifying the fallacy of delegation and control, and by identifying important value trade-offs in European integration.

From outsiders to influential insiders : pensioners' organizations in the policy process in Sweden

Abstract: This article explores the position and influence of pensioners’ organizations in Sweden’s policy process. The purpose is to shed light on a controversy in the literature concerning the power held b ...

Europeanization? Two Logics of Change of Policy-Making Patterns in Switzerland

Abstract: This article is based on a comparison of changes of policy-making patterns in Switzerland between the strongly Europeanized sector of economic regulatory policy (in spite of Switzerland not being a EU member state) and the weakly Europeanized sector of social policy (as a control case). We observe in both sectors the erosion of the traditional Swiss concensual pattern that was used to imply a strong influence for the interest groups at the expense both of the executive and of parties of the legislature. Co-operative procedures lost their influence for different reasons: in the case of economic regulatory policy their integrative role was considered as an obstacle to reform, and in the case of social policy it was undermined by a higher level of conflict. Also process change meant more technocratic policy making in the first case, and an increased influence of parliamentary politics in the second. Two “causal narratives” emphasize the distinctiveness of the logic of change in each policy sector.

How do Governments Steer Health Policy? A Comparison of Canadian and New Zealand Approaches to Cost Control and Primary Health Care Reform

Abstract: This paper compares the ways in which governments in Canada and New Zealand have attempted to pursue reforms in two major health policy arenas – cost control and primary health care – in the period 1992–2005. The framework for comparison is drawn from the “modes of governance” literature that deals with hierarchies, markets, provider-based networks and communities as means of steering policy. Recent literature has argued that governments are increasingly mixing and matching different modes of governance. This comparison shows that governance versatility applies in New Zealand, but not Canada, and this is primarily attributable to the differences in health policy institutions.

The Politics of Path-Breaking Change: The Transformation of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany

Abstract: Nowhere is the concept of path dependence more entrenched than with regard to the welfare state and its component institutions. Esping-Andersen's influential conception of three welfare paths remains the dominant paradigm for understanding social policy regimes. Drawing on the cases of Britain and Germany, this paper argues that path-breaking change is occurring in mature welfare states. These transformations, however, are not explained by path dependence theory, as rigorously formulated in terms of increasing returns, for at least four reasons: path-breaking change has not been delivered by an unpredictable event; multiple alternative paths have not been available to policy makers at the point of change; ageing institutions have not strengthened through increasing returns over the past two decades; and critical actors have not reinforced old welfare paths.

The Direction and Scope of Social Policy Change: Regime-specific or Radical Shift towards Workfare?

Abstract: What is the direction and scope of social policy change? This article assesses the predictions and findings of two strands of literature: “mainstream” social policy analysis, which suggests the absence of radical change and the dependence of change on the type of welfare regime; and the regulation literature, which proposes a radical change from welfare towards workfare that does not hinge on the type of welfare regime. This article's systematic comparative analysis of 17 OECD countries between 1985 and 2002 provides mixed evidence for both accounts.

The Matching Problem within Comparative Welfare State Research : How to Bridge Abstract Theory and Specific Hypotheses

Abstract: This paper draws attention to the problem of matching abstract theory and specific hypotheses within welfare state research, which reinforces the dependent variable problem and entails methodological difficulties. We show that matching theory and hypotheses is a ubiquitous problem in the literature. We further elaborate and illustrate the argument with an empirical example from our research on structural welfare state reform. We observe two methodological problems: 1) the risk of drawing conclusions about one level of analysis using evidence from another; 2) the problem of translating causal mechanisms formulated at a high level of abstraction to a lower level.

The Provision of Home Care as a Policy Problem

Abstract: The problem of home care for the growing number of elderly people no longer able to take of themselves has long been overshadowed by the debates on pensions and rising medical costs. Taking the feminist critique of the welfare state as point of departure, this article examines in how far the breadwinner-caretaker model still informs ageing policies in the Netherlands (a prime example of this model) and takes women as carers for granted, despite changes in the family and women's growing labour market participation. Overall, policies since the 1990s have shown remarkable continuity, defining informal care, mainly done by women, as the cornerstone of home care policy, with state-provided care seen as strictly supplementary and rationed to cut costs. This is consistent with the welfare mix of the conservative welfare state, but contradictory to a more individualized welfare state in which women's labour market participation is becoming essential to maintain welfare state benefits in the face of the a...

Learning from Co-evolution of Policy and Technology. Different PGDs in the Netherlands, Germany and Britain

Abstract: Approaches in comparative policy analysis have so far focused on the understanding of actors, institutions and their positions in the policy-making process. More recent work attempts to enrich comparative policy analysis by taking the social context and culture into account, in order to do justice to the relevance of policy context for policy content. However, the object or content of policy making has so far largely remained a black box. In this article we aim to open up this black box by studying the provision of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) in the Netherlands, Germany and Britain in terms of co-evolution. Co-evolution refers to the intricate development of a policy together with its content, in this case genetic technologies such as PGD. We demonstrate how co-evolution has led to specific technological arrangements in these three countries: a specific technical version of PGD to deal with restrictive legislation in Germany, to a well-funded PGD with insecure indications in the Neth...

Changing Life Courses and New Social Risks: The Case of Old Age Pensions

Abstract: Old age pensions are one of the keystones of traditional solidaristic welfare states. They are based on systematic risk assessments, starting from the assumption of the typical standardized life course. From this perspective “ageing” is a predictable income risk, and one that has been managed by the traditional welfare state in applying actuarial principles and collectively shared entitlements. In this contribution we join the expectation in the contemporary welfare state debate that the traditional solidaristic welfare state is changing fundamentally. On the one side the assumed standardized life course is changing rapidly. On the other side the existing welfare state institutions and policies are changing at the same time. Together, these lead to the new social risk of an increasing “unpredictability” of the future for many individuals and for vulnerable groups in particular. We discuss the case of old age pensions and assess the impact on future income predictability that results from the dest...

Approaches to Poverty in the Toronto School Board, 1970–1990: No Shallow Roots

Abstract: This paper explores educational change in the Toronto school board between 1970 and 1990, a period that saw an intense focus on improving the education of inner city students. Based on interviews with key change agents, it argues that a social movement was key to the changes that were experienced. The ideas about education and the relationships that brought some coherence to the movement are illustrated and linked to educational change.

Scales of Policy Intervention: Problematizing High Poverty Contexts in South Australia

Abstract: Education policy intervention for schools in high poverty neighbourhoods has focused on the capacity of local schools to make a difference and on the kinds of co-ordinated human services provision that might support individual families with “high needs”. In this paper I suggest that a more detailed analysis of “the problem” represented in such schools might yield a richer and more integrated policy approach. I use the notion of “scale”, arbitrary and imperfect approximations of spheres of activity, and apply it to a specific context in Adelaide, South Australia, to demonstrate the connections between the local school and factors which impinge on its capacities to make a positive difference. I suggest that the implication of the analysis is a more holistic approach to policy.

Decentralization in Asia and Latin America: Towards a Comparative Interdisciplinary Perspective

Abstract: LOUISE COMFORT, Book Review Editor University of Pittsburgh, USA Paul Smoke (Professor and Director, International Programs, Robert F. Wagner, Graduate School of Public Service, New York University...

The Generational Value Divide and the Changing Context of Public Policy Making

Abstract: A growing body of evidence suggests that different formative experiences and changing socialization patterns may be fueling an expanding value divide between younger and older generations. Such a development could affect social interaction and the prospects for generating social capital, which may pose a variety of consequences. It could also further complicate the already difficult task of democratic governance and have implications for political support. All of this may create an even more difficult context in which to make public policy decisions. Evidence from the World Values Surveys reported in this analysis suggests that in addition to concerns over population ageing, politicians and policy makers would be well advised to take heed of the potential complications that may be developing in the policy-making context as a result of the generational value divide.

Introduction: Adapting Public Policies for an Ageing Society

Abstract: Population ageing is one of the most fundamental developments our societies are experiencing. In 1960 the average man in the OECD worked 50 years with a life expectancy of 68 years. Thus, 74 per cent of his life was devoted to work. By 2000, only 50 per cent of an average man’s life was devoted to the labour market (OECD 2000: 14–17). Within the European Union, the ratio of people over 64 to the working age population (20–64) may very well double in the course of the next 50 years from 26.7 per cent (2000) to 53.4 per cent (2050) (EPC 2000: 32). The combination of an ageing population, generous state commitments to public benefits, and slower economic growth is causing the welfare state to be in a condition of ‘‘permanent austerity’’ (Pierson 1998). The rising costs of age-related programmes are also problematic in the context of international developments that constrain public finance such as economic and financial internationalization and, for EMU countries, the tight Maastricht convergence criteria. Therefore, the reform of age-related policies ranks high on the political agendas of almost all advanced industrial democracies. At the same

Adapting Educational Systems to Social Changes in Post-socialism

Abstract: When one considers scientific achievements as well as general level of education, the socialist systems were, for the most part, quite successful in the field of education. The case of Slovenia, a new democracy as well as a newly independent country, differs from many other former socialist countries due to a controversial educational reform at the end of the socialist regime. However, a change in the goals of education, a considerable increase in the number of students, heated controversies in the new pluralist environment, and so forth, were part and parcel of the social change itself. Democratic movements had to find new ways to manage education, while maintaining its quality.

The Phenomenon of Privatization: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract: This paper investigates the effect of privatization on a world-wide basis. Our analysis presents empirical findings, both favourable and unfavourable, of studies examining privatization. The exposition emphasizes the political and economic significance of the privatization process and the set of decisions that privatizing governments face. In addition, three pairs of empirical studies are analyzed in detail. These studies are comparable in terms of the period covered, the type of countries analyzed, and the issues investigated; however, they still yield divergent results regarding the impact of privatization. The current paper draws attention to the fact that caution needs to be used when defining variables and experimental settings.

The New Bureaucracy: Quality Assurance and its Critics

Abstract: policy-makers. Chapter 11 seeks to uncover the factors influencing re-centralizing efforts and their outcomes in Argentina and Brazil. Chapter 12 attempts to explain fiscal decentralization management in Brazil from a historical institutional perspective. Part V concludes the volume with a synthetic comparison of the political economy dynamics which underlie reform and how these influence the nature and outcomes of decentralization. The authors attempt to compare systematically the decentralization design of institutional structure, fiscal functions, degree of autonomy, and its impacts in the two regions. The mixture of theoretical and empirical analysis in this volume appears useful for a wide range of audiences – scholars of public finance economics, policy studies, and public administration as well as policy-makers and civil servants working closely with decentralization projects. Undoubtedly the book makes a major contribution to the understanding of decentralization and its impacts in developing countries. The book purposively adopted an interdisciplinary framework attempting to cross boundaries of decentralization literature of public finance economics, political science, and public policy because the authors believe that disciplinary boundaries have constrained creative thinking and pragmatic policy-making about decentralization (p. 5). The interdisciplinary approach takes account of the fiscal, political, and administrative aspects of the decentralization process together with the historical institutional background of decentralization and re-centralization policies of countries under study. The authors try to present some hard evidence of the positive and negative impacts of decentralization on service delivery and development, local governance, and macro fiscal and economic stability in the two regions. Despite the fair coverage of Asian countries, some countries in Asia such as Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia, which have achieved considerable progress in decentralization, are not included in the analysis. If these countries were added, it would be possible to get a balanced picture on decentralization and its link to politics and economics in Asian countries. On the critical side, I would also add that the authors’ arguments would have been further strengthened if the common framework presented in the final chapter had been applied to the analyses of country cases. Nevertheless, the book is a valuable contribution to improving our understanding of both the driving forces for decentralization and their impacts on socio-economic and political life in Asian and Latin American countries.