Local Government and Fiscal Transfers: Enhancing or Weakening Democracy?

This open access book analyses whether and to what extent fiscal transfers from central to local governments affect democracy at sub-national level. Fiscal transfers are often perceived to undermine democracy, as politicians utilise them to build patronage networks, weaken opposition candidates, and reward local governments that support them. On the other hand, others have argued that fiscal transfers serve to improve local governance, increase transparency, reduce corruption, and promote democracy. Drawing on eleven country case studies from Europe, Asia, and Africa, this book examines the extent to which local governments are affected with the risks connected with intergovernmental fiscal transfers. It will appeal to all those interested in public administration, public finance studies, and public policy.

Juraj Nemec is professor of public finance and public management at the Faculty of Economics and Administration at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic and part time professor at the Faculty of Economics at Matej Bel University in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. He served in many positions in international organisations and, also as the member of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration by the United Nations. He published more than 600 academic publications.

Michal Plaček is professor of public policy at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and global research affiliate at Sustainable Purchasing Research Initiative at Arizona State University. He has publications in high‐ranking journals, and he published several books with well know international publishers. He won the award for the best comparative conference paper from the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis in 2017.

Purshottama Sivanarain Reddy is Emeritus Professor and local government specialist in the School of Management, IT and Governance at the University of Kwazulu Natal, in Durban, South Africa. He served in different positions in international organisations. Prof. Reddy is currently the Vice-Chairperson of the Policy and Programme Committee of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences and also serves on its Council of Administration. He published extensively nationally and internationally, and he is the editor/co - editor of twenty books.