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The Quiet Revolution Watch Video Connection Speed: High Speed Low Speed Audio    Event Title : The Quiet Revolution Date : 7/23/2003 Duration : 43 minutes Language  : English Country/Region : World Keyword :  Capacity Building  Human Development  Agriculture and Rural Development Presenter : Tim Campbell Frannie Leautier | Related Material | Recommendations |Related B-SPAN Videos |  DESCRIPTION  In his book, The Quiet Revolution, Tim Campbell, an urban advisor with the World Bank Institute, traced the growth and effects of decentralization and democracy in Latin America through the 1980s and 1990s. Based on first-hand accounts from mayors, local officials and neighborhood leaders, Campbell focused on those cities and towns that made the most of their new intergovernmental arrangements. He argued in the book that the reforms, which are vital to long-term sustainable growth in the region, need much stronger support from national and international institutions in order to survive. His research, conducted over a ten year span, counters conventional wisdom about the role of development banks in process of state reform. Frannie Leautier, Vice President of the World Bank Institute, provided introductory comments. She noted that Campbell’s involvement with the World Bank as an urban expert in Latin America, starting in the late 1980s, came at a fortuitous time since the region was experiencing significant urbanization. He has pushed issues such as street children, city development strategies, disaster management during his tenure with the World Bank. Leautier said the book was in part based on economic and sector work that the World Bank conducted a decade ago, which allowed the author to take an historical perspective on the results, as well as learn how this work was perceived by stakeholders. She noted the book comes at an important time when the institution is thinking about new instruments for its clients. Campbell said many countries in the world are currently decentralizing and asking similar questions that were being asked in Latin America in the 1990s. He began working on a decentralization project in the region in 1991, which was the genesis for the book. During the mid-1990s, he was able to monitor the progress of decentralization in the region, but also was watching how countries in other regions were implementing similar policies and facing similar problems. During the late 1980s, a number of countries in Latin America started making reforms in the financial sector, allowing more decision making at local government levels, and democratization. Local officials found significant new financial resources available to them. Concurrently, spending was often not reduced by the central government. Campbell emphasized the importance of reforms in the electoral system by local governments during this period. He believes the financial reforms, in fact, were starting in the first half of the 1980s. The new model of governance placed more responsibilities on local officials. Local officials began addressing issues not touched by them in the past such as environmental protection. After reforms began, officials with professional backgrounds were being elected in greater percentages than had been the case previously. Campbell said the incentives had changed, and governments were able to attract individuals with higher qualifications to administer public services. Taxes rose, but Campbell said the willingness by the public to pay taxes also rose because the public equated the taxes with successful delivery of services. Civil society was given a greater voice in this participatory model. Mayors began surveying constituencies for their thoughts on policies and issues of concern. Campbell described several case studies that were representative of the changes undertaken. Fiscal balance and fiscal responsibility, rights and responsibilities of local and central governments, more efficient local government, good government and public transparency, and economic development are all areas that Campbell should be the development focus in the future. Management of government, electoral reforms, and horizontal learning between municipalities are important areas to concentrate on, he said. Pitfalls include backdoor recentralization (he characterized Peru under Fujimora as an example) and unsteady capital flows. Changing the incentive structure will be critical, Campbell said. He noted many successful municipalities have good think tanks nearby, which suggests a lesson is there to be learned. Additional lessons that can be taken from the Latin American experience include rationing borrowing capacity, selective devolution, and horizontal learning.  RELATED MATERIALS   The Quiet Revolution http://www.worldbank.org/wbi/urban/quiet.htm http://www.pitt.edu/~press/books/quietrevolution.html RELATED B-SPAN EVENTS Capacity Building (87) Human Development (150) Agriculture and Rural Development (26)