ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEVOLVED GOVERNANCE, POLITICAL DECENTRALIZATION, AND SERVICE DELIVERY:A CRITICAL REVIEW OF LITERATURE

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.