Over the last few years the debate on decentralisation has focused on:
• the advantages of decentralised governance in terms of poverty reduction, political participation, government accountability, responsiveness of public policies and service delivery;
• the limitations to what decentralisation can achieve and the balance between centralisation and decentralisation: which areas are best addressed by which level of government?
• the reform of the state and systems of governance that decentralisation requires and facilitates, as decentralisation alters the structure and institutions of governance;
• the political, financial, administrative and capacity preconditions for successful decentralisation.