Abstract:
This paper seeks to critically review the existing literature on the
relationship between the devolved governance aspect of political
decentralization, and its influence on service delivery. The study will be
based on the context of devolved governments in Kenya. This review
specifically evaluates the theoretical and empirical literatures related to
political decentralization and service delivery with an aim of establishing
areas of gaps for further research. In particular, the paper identifies some of
the important theoretical, conceptual, measurements, contextual, and
methodological drawbacks in previous researches. However, it also
identifies other literatures that restrict generalization of results to a
particular contexts, sectors, and larger populations. Additionally, several
research avenues have been proposed for in-depth understanding of the
relationship between political decentralization and service delivery.
