The Dilemmas of Decentralization and Community Development in Authoritarian Contexts

Abstract

Development specialists, political scientists, and economists have contended for years that decentralized, community-based development strategies are more effective than centralized, hierarchical strategies of growth. Yet, despite their findings, most developing countries that experiment in decentralization abort their reforms in mid-stream. Why have so many states maintained their commitment to centralized, top-down devel­ opment strategies given the loss of effectiveness that they entail? Drawing on the Egyptian case, this paper argues that when restraining political institutions backed by structural factors are not already in place, and political survival is at stake, there are very rational reasons why state leaders have time and again sacrificed local development efforts. In order to admin­ister sound development policies, international donors need to be more sensitive of the political context in developing coun­tries and more sober about the tenuous nature of decentraliza­tion programs, particularly when the level of state-society tension is high and state leaders can unilaterally abort decen­tralization programs at will.