Untangling the Relationship Between Fiscal Decentralization and Citizen Participation: A Critical Revisit

ABSTRACT Decentralization has gained significant scholarly attention due to its promise of creating more opportunities for citizen participation. However, existing evidence suggests that decentralization can have contrasting effects on citizen involvement. Furthermore, because citizen participation takes diverse forms, the impact of decentralization likely depends on these various modes of citizen engagement. The link between decentralization and these different modes of participation has received inadequate attention in the context of Latin American countries. Therefore, a thorough examination of the effects of decentralization on varying forms of citizen participation is warranted. This article addresses two main questions: (a) Does decentralization—specifically fiscal decentralization—affect citizen participation? and (b) if so, does the impact of fiscal decentralization vary depending on the specific mode of citizen participation? To answer these questions, this study employs a multilevel analysis to estimate citizen participation as a function of both individual and regional characteristics. The results demonstrate that the effects of decentralization on citizen participation depend on both the type of decentralization and the mode of participation.