Socialism and the Field Administrator: Decentralization in Tanzania

Picard, Louis A.

doi:10.2307/421835

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Second, abstract acceptance of ideals of rural transformation do not automatically transfer into behavior. There is some evidence that the goals of development administration are lost in the administrative routines of the Boma (Picard, 1980). In spite of these qualifications, however, die evidence does show some perception of the district administration taking an active role in development projects.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They have to consult the Ministries in Dar es Salaam for almost everything they wish to do, and certainly about every cent which they wish to spend. (Nyerere, 1972: 1) Throughout the period since independence more and more decision-making had occurred at the center, with little discretion at the district and regional level (Picard, 1980). President Nyerere announced the decentralization scheme in January of 1972.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Attitudes and Development: The District Administration in Tanzania

Picard¹

1980

African Studies Review

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At the heart of the development process, insofar as it involves governmental activity, is the attitude of the administrator who is supposed to carry out that policy. An administrator who is not committed to a policy can either simply ignore it, or if the policy seems threatening, actively work to sabotage it. In the final analysis, it is the administrator in the field who must act as the lightning rod in the linking of policy planning in the center to policy implementation in the rural district. Development policy in Tanzania depends particularly upon the aptitude and the attitude of the district level administrator. Tanzanian socialism, with its emphasis on self help and cooperative effort, must be accepted by civil servants in the districts and regions who may be skeptical of much of the thrust of development policy. Heirs to an elitist administrative tradition, the Tanzanian district officer and his staff may have little financial incentive to implement a policy of egalitarianism which has at least some emphasis on the redistribution of wealth. This study focuses on the issue of administrative attitudes in an attempt to determine to what extent the administrative and political changes which have occurred in Tanzania have been accepted at the district level. This article will first examine the attitudes of a select group of Tanzanian district level administrators and then compare these attitudes with those of their closest colleagues at the district and at the regional level.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

Attitudes and Development: The District Administration in Tanzania

Picard¹

1980

African Studies Review

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“…A national/local cleavage pitted national leaders against local elites (including bureaucrats) who dominated the productive sectors of the economy and the architecture of local government (Picard, 1980). National leaders wanted to subordinate education to nation-building and centrally planned developmentalism.…”

Section: Party-based Pragmatism and Manpower Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1972 the system of local government was abolished (including elected local councils) to check lingering subnational particularistic interests and opposition to national policies and to rationalize the implementation of Nyerere's developmentalist agenda (Hyden, 1980;Picard, 1980). 23 Compulsory villagization soon followed (von Freyhold, 1979) and with it the 20 URT, The Education Act (1969) 21 Figures A.4, A.5, and A.6 puts Tanzania's rationing of schooling in comparative perspective against data from Kenya and Uganda.…”

Section: Education For Agrarian Self Reliancementioning

confidence: 99%

What is the Point of Schooling? Education Access and Policy in Tanzania Since 1961

Opalo¹

2022

Preprint

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Learning is not always the goal of schooling. As policymakers around the world tackle the ongoing global “learning crisis,” it is important to understand that the logics behind the design of education systems. Using a political settlements approach, this article documents the evolution of education policy and associated outcomes in Tanzania in tandem with shifts in elite perceptions of the goals of schooling. Tanzania has experienced four phases of political settlements, each of which encapsulated a different policy posture regarding the goal of schooling. The article also shows that electoral incentives are decidedly biased in favor of increasing access to schooling, even at the expense of quality. These findings advance our understanding of the politics of education policy and the persistent failures to invest in improving learning outcomes in many countries around the world.

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“…Meanwhile recognising contradicting results mong researchers, Tanzania has been implementing the decentralisation initiatives as a means of enhancing public sector governance. The history of decentralisation in Tanzania can be traced back in 1972 whereby the country focused on strengthening local institutions to ensure popular participation (Picard, 1980). In the late 1970s, Tanzania public sector shifted from decentralisation to centralisation after the failure of local institutions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decentralisation, Institutional Characteristics and Public Sector Governance in Tanzania

Kalufya¹,

Nyello²

2021

OJPS

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Public sector governance has been the primary focus of the developing countries to ensure that they realise their developmental goals. In ensuring the public sector governance, decentralisation has been considered as the primary initiative. However, most of the previous empirical studies concentrate on political decentralisation meanwhile excluding administrative decentralisation and mediation effect of contingent factors i.e. technological capacity and institutional culture as institutional characteristics. In view of the aforementioned missing knowledge, the article investigated the influence of administrative decentralisation on public sector governance considering the mediation effect of institutional characteristics adopting Stewardship theory and Contingency theory. The article collected data from Dar es Salaam, Dodoma and Kigoma through self-administered questionnaire and analysed by using Mean scores and Structural Equation Model (SEM). The results revealed that administrative decentralisation had significant positive influence on public sector accountability and transparency. Moreover, technological capacity and institutional culture partially mediated the relationship between administrative decentralisation and, public sector accountability and transparency. In view of such results, among others, the article recommends that there is a need of developing the National Decentralisation Strategy (NADIS) to guide the decentralisation process and ensure its effective implementation for the sake of achieving public sector governance goals.

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Socialism and the Field Administrator: Decentralization in Tanzania

Cited by 13 publications

References 2 publications

Attitudes and Development: The District Administration in Tanzania

Attitudes and Development: The District Administration in Tanzania

What is the Point of Schooling? Education Access and Policy in Tanzania Since 1961

Decentralisation, Institutional Characteristics and Public Sector Governance in Tanzania

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