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Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers
Over the past two centuries, decentralisation has become a prominent feature of governance reform globally, with a surge in adoption (at least in name) across both developed and developing countries. These reforms have been driven by espoused objectives, including enhancing service delivery, promoti...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice
2026
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| _version_ | 1869483680612745216 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Chileshe, Alexander |
| author2 | Haricharan, Shanildutt |
| author_browse | Chileshe, Alexander Haricharan, Shanildutt |
| author_facet | Haricharan, Shanildutt Chileshe, Alexander |
| author_sort | Chileshe, Alexander |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Over the past two centuries, decentralisation has become a prominent feature of governance reform globally, with a surge in adoption (at least in name) across both developed and developing countries. These reforms have been driven by espoused objectives, including enhancing service delivery, promoting citizen participation, strengthening local development, and advancing democratisation. However, global evidence reveals mixed outcomes, with many decentralisation efforts failing to translate formal commitments into meaningful local governance. These shortcomings stem less from technical design flaws and more from the persistence of entrenched political, institutional, and cultural dynamics that actively shape — and often constrain — the implementation of reforms. In Zambia, on paper decentralisation has remained a consistent policy objective since independence in 1964, with successive post-independence governments expressing rhetorical commitment to devolving power to the people. Despite four major reform phases and several legislative changes, tangible improvements in local development have remained limited. This thesis examines Zambia's decentralisation efforts between 2011 and 2021 through the analytical lens of the Problem-Driven Political Economy Analysis (PDPEA) framework. It investigates how structural, institutional, and ideational factors have shaped reform implementation and outcomes. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in three districts — Mazabuka, Chipata, and Chibombo — this research finds that decentralisation in Zambia has been persistently undermined not merely by technical shortcomings but by a fundamental mismatch between the espoused policy of devolution and the underlying political incentives of the governing elite. Central authorities resist delegating meaningful power out of fear that doing so would weaken their control, particularly in a competitive and ethnically mobilised political landscape. These underlying causes manifest in a range of symptoms: institutional incoherence, the persistence of colonial-era centralisation, informal power dynamics that override formal rules, and limited autonomy at the district level. The strategic deployment of ethnicity and regionalism further distorts reform outcomes, while citizen disengagement and weak downward accountability reduce grassroots pressure for meaningful change. Taken together, these findings challenge technocratic assumptions that legal and administrative reforms alone can deliver effective decentralisation in Zambia; without genuine political will, reforms remain largely symbolic. The research proposes context-sensitive strategies that operate on two fronts. Firstly, to stimulate political will, reforms must shift the incentive structures of ruling elites so that they see tangible benefits from effective decentralisation. This can be done by linking performance-based fiscal transfers to developmental outcomes, demonstrating how empowered local governments can deliver visible gains that enhance regime legitimacy, and building leadership coalitions that anchor reform in widely shared local values. Civic mobilisation and digital transparency can also raise the political costs of resisting devolution, gradually realigning incentives. Secondly, where local autonomy remains limited, adaptive approaches can still carve out space for incremental progress. Civic-led accountability initiatives, citizen monitoring of service delivery, and experimental decentralisation “labs” can test innovative practices within constrained environments, generating evidence and pressure for broader reform over time. These measures help sustain bottom-up demand and demonstrate practical benefits, even when political will is partial or ambivalent. In contributing to broader debates on adaptive governance, the study argues that sustainable decentralisation ultimately requires both transforming entrenched belief systems and activating civic agency, while also recognising the realities of elite resistance. While focused on Zambia, the findings offer transferable insights for other post-colonial contexts grappling with similar decentralisation challenges. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43373 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-07-01T04:02:51.141Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice |
| publisherStr | Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/43373 Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers Chileshe, Alexander Haricharan, Shanildutt Goldman, Ian Decentralisation Political Economy Citizen Participation Colonial Legacy Hybrid Governance Institutional Reform Over the past two centuries, decentralisation has become a prominent feature of governance reform globally, with a surge in adoption (at least in name) across both developed and developing countries. These reforms have been driven by espoused objectives, including enhancing service delivery, promoting citizen participation, strengthening local development, and advancing democratisation. However, global evidence reveals mixed outcomes, with many decentralisation efforts failing to translate formal commitments into meaningful local governance. These shortcomings stem less from technical design flaws and more from the persistence of entrenched political, institutional, and cultural dynamics that actively shape — and often constrain — the implementation of reforms. In Zambia, on paper decentralisation has remained a consistent policy objective since independence in 1964, with successive post-independence governments expressing rhetorical commitment to devolving power to the people. Despite four major reform phases and several legislative changes, tangible improvements in local development have remained limited. This thesis examines Zambia's decentralisation efforts between 2011 and 2021 through the analytical lens of the Problem-Driven Political Economy Analysis (PDPEA) framework. It investigates how structural, institutional, and ideational factors have shaped reform implementation and outcomes. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork in three districts — Mazabuka, Chipata, and Chibombo — this research finds that decentralisation in Zambia has been persistently undermined not merely by technical shortcomings but by a fundamental mismatch between the espoused policy of devolution and the underlying political incentives of the governing elite. Central authorities resist delegating meaningful power out of fear that doing so would weaken their control, particularly in a competitive and ethnically mobilised political landscape. These underlying causes manifest in a range of symptoms: institutional incoherence, the persistence of colonial-era centralisation, informal power dynamics that override formal rules, and limited autonomy at the district level. The strategic deployment of ethnicity and regionalism further distorts reform outcomes, while citizen disengagement and weak downward accountability reduce grassroots pressure for meaningful change. Taken together, these findings challenge technocratic assumptions that legal and administrative reforms alone can deliver effective decentralisation in Zambia; without genuine political will, reforms remain largely symbolic. The research proposes context-sensitive strategies that operate on two fronts. Firstly, to stimulate political will, reforms must shift the incentive structures of ruling elites so that they see tangible benefits from effective decentralisation. This can be done by linking performance-based fiscal transfers to developmental outcomes, demonstrating how empowered local governments can deliver visible gains that enhance regime legitimacy, and building leadership coalitions that anchor reform in widely shared local values. Civic mobilisation and digital transparency can also raise the political costs of resisting devolution, gradually realigning incentives. Secondly, where local autonomy remains limited, adaptive approaches can still carve out space for incremental progress. Civic-led accountability initiatives, citizen monitoring of service delivery, and experimental decentralisation “labs” can test innovative practices within constrained environments, generating evidence and pressure for broader reform over time. These measures help sustain bottom-up demand and demonstrate practical benefits, even when political will is partial or ambivalent. In contributing to broader debates on adaptive governance, the study argues that sustainable decentralisation ultimately requires both transforming entrenched belief systems and activating civic agency, while also recognising the realities of elite resistance. While focused on Zambia, the findings offer transferable insights for other post-colonial contexts grappling with similar decentralisation challenges. 2026-06-24T13:28:14Z 2026-06-24T13:28:14Z 2026 2026-06-24T12:33:24Z Thesis / Dissertation Doctoral PhD http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43373 eng application/pdf Graduate School of Development Policy and Practice Faculty of Commerce |
| spellingShingle | Decentralisation Political Economy Citizen Participation Colonial Legacy Hybrid Governance Institutional Reform Chileshe, Alexander Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers |
| thesis_degree_str | Doctoral |
| title | Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers |
| title_full | Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers |
| title_fullStr | Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers |
| title_short | Decentralisation in Zambia, 2011 to 2021: reality or rhetoric? –the underlying drivers and barriers |
| title_sort | decentralisation in zambia 2011 to 2021 reality or rhetoric the underlying drivers and barriers |
| topic | Decentralisation Political Economy Citizen Participation Colonial Legacy Hybrid Governance Institutional Reform |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43373 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chileshealexander decentralisationinzambia2011to2021realityorrhetorictheunderlyingdriversandbarriers |