In the decade since president Fujimori left power, Peru once again became a decentralised state: regional councils were elected and competences were transferred to the regional and local levels. The 1993 Peruvian Constitution and the respective organic laws lack certain provisions concerning the relations between the three governance levels. The most relevant institution is the so-called Intergovernmental Coordination Council. Moreover, regions and municipalities have few other possibilities to participate on central-level decisions in, for example, the law-making process. Because of the challenges this creates, regions and municipalities have founded their own associations to promoter their concerns on the central level.
My contribution analyses the relevant Constitutional provisions and the respective organic laws. Moreover, I want to show the existing system’s deficiencies and possible solutions with the aim of answering why regions and municipalities would rather work with their own associations than strengthen their participation via constitutionally and legally installed institutions.
