Decentralization in Madagascar: A String of Unfinished Races

This paper examines the challenges Madagascar has faced in decentralizing government activity since its independence in 1960. This is of interest as we will show that it has been plagued by a series of misstarts down that path. The paper is divided in three parts. The first one summarizes the key features of relevance to decentralization under five headings. The second describes the decentralized institutions under the three republics and the five constitutions. The third focuses on recent attempts to further decentralization.