A Decentralizing Coalition Finds Political Leverage

Pro-municipal activists included politicians (in both the local and national arenas), technocrats, academics, jurists, and international aid agencies. Th is coalition endorsed decentralization to improve both local administration and the quality of democratic participation. Trends toward decentralization became strong enough to support some advocates’ careers in the field. The infl uence of municipalista forces grew when three-party competition came to dominate national politics, between 1986 and 2004. Election results since 1978 (national vote percentages, numbers of parliament members elected, and municipalities controlled) demonstrate these changes in party structure. The comparative literature on three-party competition is examined, and the roles of mini-parties, factions, and perceptual lags in party strategizing are described. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.