The research puts particular emphasis in trying to explain and understand how intergovernmental relations shape the decentralization to local and regional governments in Colombia and Paraguay with particular attention to the role of political parties represented in National Congress in the process.
An important objective of this research is to better understand the reasons why countries with a unitary form of government, such as Colombia and Paraguay, engage in political decentralization and how such processes influence the shape and effectiveness of public service delivery with particular emphasis on the role played by political parties. To what extent do political leaders who profess support for decentralization do actually act upon it? How can we measure their support to the process? How’s party unity affected? These are some of the questions to be addressed in this paper using institutional theory and the importance of structures affecting the course of reform.
