Decentralisation through the lens of the failed state

As international donors intervene in the policy decisions of weak or so‐called failed states, systems are once more externally imposed, which seek to reform state institutions in their own image. This article suggests that pressures placed upon contemporary African states, to control, protect and provide for all within their borders, have in fact enabled failed regimes to manipulate conditionalities to counter legitimate political opposition. Furthermore, the imposition of decentralised structures by a weak centre fundamentally assumes that there is something to decentralise, and fails to recognise the role of the citizenry in formulating appropriate demands and structures which would ideally formulate the basis of a modern, inclusive and strong state.