Decentralisation, Political Participation and Democracy: The Effects of Decentralisation on Political Participation and Democratisation in Non-Western States

Abstract: A global trend of decentralisation has been present in the last decades. Since the 1980s, most countries have transferred power and resources from the centre to subnational levels of government. This trend has also been present in the developing world where it has been encouraged by international organisations as a way of promoting citizen participation and democracy. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if there is empirical evidence to support these arguments. The present thesis is devoted to the study of the consequences of political and fiscal decentralisation in the non-Western world. Based on a sample of 69 countries, I investigate the effect of political and fiscal decentralisation on democratic quality and citizen participation in politics. Citizen participation is defined as voter turnout in national elections and non-electoral participation. From multiple regression analyses I find empirical support for a significant correlation between decentralisation and citizen participation in control for relevant factors. In particular I find a strong correlation between political decentralisation and voter turnout in national elections. The analysis shows no support for a connection between decentralisation and democratic quality, which puts in doubt the argument of decentralisation as a means to achieve democratisation.