Introduction: The New Local Politics of Democratisation

Comparing Forest Decentralization and Local Institutional Change in Bolivia, Kenya, Mexico, and Uganda

“…Some authors have argued that decentralization exacerbates wealth differences at the local level (Bardhan & Mookherjee, 2000;Harris, Stokke, & Törnquist, 2005;Platteau, 2004;Hayward, 2003). Inequality is anticipated to increase if local political leaders are able to capture control of forest resources, the resources are quite scarce, and there are readily available markets to sell forest products.…”

Civic Engagement and Democracy in Post-Suharto Indonesia: A Review of Musrenbang, the Kecamatan Development Programme, and Labour Organising

“…While a general critique has been that political processes of decision making have become de-politicised, leading to exclusion of marginalised groups and little representation, (Harriss et al, 2004;, when politicisation takes the form of contestation over votes and support blocks at the cost of inclusion of subaltern and excluded groups, it becomes problematic. While in several of the areas where the Musrenbang process has been studies, such as Batang Hari, Kebumen, Palu, and Poso to mention a few, members of the DPRD are encouraged to attend Musrenbang events at village and kecamatan level, usually in the official role as 'advisory personnel' or 'resource persons' (Sarosa et al, 2008).…”

Introducing the Power, Conflict, and Democracy Programme

“…The public sphere is being hollowed out and the remnants of state and politics are being dominated by the existing political and bureaucratic elites. Typically, these elites draw on identity-and money politics to retain their positions, while those excluded by basic social and economic cleavages are poorly represented by movements, organisations, political parties and civic organisations (Harriss et al 2004, Priyono, et.al. 2007, Harriss-White 2003and Nordholt and van Klinken 2007.…”