Understanding decentralisation: theory, evidence, and practice

Jean-Paul Faguet is professor of the political economy of development, Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the co-programme director of the MSc in Development Management. He is also chair of the Decentralization Task Force at Columbia University’s Initiative for Policy Dialogue. He works at the frontier between economics and political science, using quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the institutions and organisational forms that underpin development transformations. He has published in the economics, political science, and development literatures, including Is Decentralization Good for Development? Perspectives from Academics and Policymakers (Oxford, 2015) and Governance from Below: Decentralization and Popular Democracy in Bolivia (Michigan), which won the W.J.M. Mackenzie Prize for best political science book of 2012.