arhiva » Anul 1999 » Numarul 2(3) din 1999
DEMOCRACY, GOVERNANCE AND DECENTRALIZATION
In the half century that has followed the conclusion of World War II there has been increasing concern about issues of democratization and good governance. This concern was given an initial impetus by the growing belief in the aftermath of World War II that democratic governments were both less likely to seriously violate basic human rights as well as to resort to violence and war as a means of resolving disputes between themselves.
Concern about the creation and sustaining of democratic institutions within a society, as well as the role of good governance in maintaining democratic institutions, was further encouraged by the disillusionment produced as a result of the difficulties, indeed in many instances failures, of efforts at introducing democratic institutions in the various transitional societies of Africa, Asia and Latin America. In particular, the failure of efforts at encouraging democratic economic development within the framework of highly centralized states initially gave rise to much concern about issues of good governance. During the past decade, with increasing frequency, those concerns have resulted in growing attention being paid to issues of decentralization and especially to the relationship between decentralization and democratic governance.
