1 LOCAL FOUNDATIONS FOR BETTER GOVERNANCE A Review of Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao's Localizing Development

Abstract: In Localizing Development, Mansuri and Rao survey theory and evidence for development strategies based on local community empowerment. This note extends their theoretical argument by focusing on local government as a vital source of new leadership. Local leaders who provide better public service can prove their qualifications for higher office, but new competition from popular local leaders may be against the interests of incumbent national leaders. Thus, decentralization reforms that could benefit economic development may face powerful resistance. International assistance should promote a balanced development of local and national governments, along with a free press to monitor government at all levels. To better inform public discussions of decentralization reforms, the World Bank should actively support research on comparative subnational politics. 1. Local participatory development and political change There are fundamental reasons to see the World Bank's report Localizing Development, by Ghazala Mansuri and Vijayendra Rao, as one of the most important books on development in recent years. Trade and investment for economic growth depend on basic public services and infrastructure which must be provided by government, and the quality of government i