Cohen and Peterson spent years with the Harvard Institute for International Development. They review the lessons of administrative decentralization in transitional and developing countries over the past four decades, and summarize and critique the dominant analytical framework. They contend that a

*Examines administrative decentralization strategies in developing countries
*Case studies include Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mexico
*Written in cooperation with the United Nations Cohen and Peterson have created a practical and theoretically rich look at administrative decentralization from the past four decades, with a focus on the problems confronting developing countries since the 1990s. This groundbreaking work debates the role of administrative systems--including institutional monopolies and pluralistic states--in implementing decentralization strategies and reforms.