Current Challenges, Future Opportunities and Potential Impact of Expanded Administrative Decentralization in Lebanon

Abstract

This paper examines policies and their implementation in the context of Expanded Administrative Decentralization in Lebanon through different approaches and perspectives. First, it inspects the available and currently implemented policies of decentralization in different countries and from different reviews such as emerging concepts, the rationale for decentralization, the rise of decentralization, experiences in weak states, poverty alleviation effect, accountability, municipal innovation, good governance, and democratization, and economic national, and balanced development. Then it discusses the results of the research and forms a discussion to analyze the findings. Then, based on the research and findings through the study, it presents the implications from different perspectives regarding infrastructure, demographic, political, economic, and financial. The role of the ombudsman in a decentralized system is also discussed. Finally, it answers the two fundamental research questions: How can expanded administrative decentralization work in Lebanon? Does Lebanon need expanded administrative decentralization and why? In conclusion, it is found that decentralization, under different forms or types, is not an easy concept to implement. Although Lebanon is in urgent need of decentralization, there are different basic pillar conditions that need to be implemented, such as the political will and the conviction that decentralization is a national and developmental demand, before proceeding with the undertaking. Many parties, stakeholders, officials, and even people are still ambivalent as to whether Lebanon needs deconcentration as a first step or should it directly adopt expanded administrative decentralization. Although there is a large public voice asking for decentralization, the reality is that there is a huge lack of awareness on all levels, and most importantly, goodwill is not a common thread.