COURSE OUTLINE AND READING LIST - POLI 459: DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

Department of Political Science

University of Ghana

POLI 459: DECENTRALIZATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

1ST SEMESTER, 2013/2014

                             

LECTURER: Dr. Emmanuel Debrah

Course Objective and Requirement

The emphasis on governance at the grassroots/local level has given impetus to local government administration. Ghana’s experience with local government administration predates colonial rule, but since independence local government has become an important component of the developmental process. The course begins by exploring generic concepts of decentralization as analytical tools to explain the significance of local government administration in Ghana. It delineates the various facets of Ghana’s local government administration and configures their impact on the development process. It also identifies and explains the obstacles that impair local government administration and recommends measures to overcome them. While formal seminar presentations may not apply, students are expected to read the literature before attending the mandatory 2 hours class on Wednesday 9:30 – 11:30 am @  (JQB 14) and contribute to class discussions and write series of assignments and quizzes that form the 30% marks for interim assessments as well as  the end-of-semester examinations, which constitute 70%.

Course Outline

1. Conceptualizing Decentralization and Local Government                  (weeks 1, 2 & 3)

2.  Central-Local Government Relations in Ghana                                              (week 4)

3.  Historical Trajectories of Local Government Administration in Ghana     (week 5 & 6)

4.  Chieftaincy and Local Government in Ghana                                                 (week 7)

5. Local Government in the 4^th Republic: the District Assemblies, etc,  (week 8, 9 &10)

6.  Local Government Financing in Ghana – Source of Revenue, Budget,

     uses and constraints                                                                       (week 11, 12 & 13)

Reading List

Wieslaw Kisiel and Del Taebel, ‘Local Government in an Emerging Democracy: Problems of Polish Mayors’, State & Local Government Review, Vol. 26, No. 1 (1994), pp. 54-62

Emilia Kandeva (ed.) Stabilization of Local Governments: Local Governments in Central and Eastern Europe, vol. 2, OSI/LGI, 2001.

Hubert Allen, Cultivating the Grassroots: Why Local Government Matters, Bombay, 1990.

Ayee, J. R. A (1999) Decentralization and Conflict: The case of District Chief Executives and Members of Parliament in Ghana Accra: Friedrich Ebert Foundation.

J.R.A. Ayee, Anatomy of Public Policy Implementation, Aldershot, England, 1994.

Philip Mawhood (ed.) Local Government in the Third World: The Experience of Decentralization in Tropical Africa, African Institute of South Africa, 1993.

Ronald Wraith, Local Administration in West Africa, Africana Publishing Corporation, NY, 1972.

Philip Mawhood (ed.), Local Government in the Third World: The Experience of Decentralization in Tropical Africa, African Institute of South Africa, Pretoria, 1993.

J.R.A. Ayee “Governance and Decentralization in Ghana-Retrospect and Prospects”, Agenda 96: Preparing Ghana for the 21^st Century, Some Economic and Social Issues.

Mike Oquaye, “Decentralization and Development:  The Ghanaian Case Under the PNDC”, Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Vol.33, No.2, July 1995, pp.209-239.

Local Government Law, PNDC Law 207, 1988.

K. Boafo-Arthur, ‘Chieftaincy in Ghana: The Challenges and Prospects in the 21^st Century’, Africa and Asian Studies, 2,(2) 2003, pp. 1-16.

Paul Nugent Africa Since Independence: A Comparative History Palgrave MaCmillan, New York, 2004.

Irene K Odotei and Albert K. Awedoba (eds) Chieftaincy in Ghana: Culture, Governance and Development, Sub-Saharan Publishers, Accra, 2006.

K.A. Busia, The Position of the Chief in Modern Political System of Ashanti, Frank Cass, London, 1968.

S.K Asibuo and J.R.A.Ayee Aspects of Local Government Reform in Ghana, AISA, 1993.

Debrah, E. ‘Assessing the quality of accountability in Ghana’s district assemblies, 1993 – 2008’ African Journal of Political Science and International Relations 3 (6), pp. 278-287, June, 2009.

J. R. A Ayee, ‘The Measurement of Decentralization: The Ghanaian Experience, 1988-92’, African Affairs 95, 1996: 31-50.

Republic of Ghana, Constitution of the 4^th Republic, 1992.

Republic of Ghana, Local Government Act 462, 1993.

Vicki Clarke, “Local Politics in Ghana: Development, Democracy and Decentralization”, Political Science Review, Fall 2001, Vol.7, No.1.

J.R.A. Ayee, Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons for the Future”, The LECIA Bulletin, 14, (1), December, 1998.

J.R.A. Ayee, “Financing Sub-national Governments in Ghana: The District Assemblies’ Common Fund”, Regional & Federal Studies, Vol.5, No.3, 1995.

Republic of Ghana, District Assemblies’ Common Fund Act (Act 455).