Handbook on Decentralization, Devolution and the State

Taking a multidisciplinary approach to the dynamics of political and economic decentralization in contemporary regimes, this comprehensive Handbook offers a critical examination of how the decentralization of governance affects citizen well-being.

Expert contributors provide an analysis of theoretical developments and empirical approaches in the study of decentralization, exploring how decentralization is conceptualized and measured. Chapters examine central topics including how the degree and type of decentralization varies over time and across countries, how political decentralization affects the behaviour of parties and voters, and the social and economic consequences of decentralizing power. Offering a comparative perspective, the Handbook utilizes insightful international case studies from Latin America, North America, Western Europe and Asia. Attention is also paid to the impact of the Great Recession of 2008 and the Covid-19 pandemic on intergovernmental relations.

This Handbook will be a valuable resource for scholars and students of political geography and geopolitics, regulation and governance, and international politics. It will also be useful for practitioners in these fields who are interested in decentralization.

Edited by Ignacio Lago, Professor, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain