Name: Gelly I.

Rodriguez Date: May 9, 2017

Subject: PA 202 Theory & Practice in Instructress: Dr. Gail C. Olavides
Public Administration

CONCEPTS OF CENTRALIZATION AND DECENTRALIZATION

(Reflection # 7)

Centralization and decentralization are two different forms of

administration in governing a certain country centralization and
decentralization. Centralization means having one focus of control. It is an
attempt to improve efficiency by taking advantage of potential economies of
scale: improving the average; it may also improve reliability by minimizing
opportunities for error. It pulls groups together to create order and enforce
process.

Decentralization, on the other hand distributes control to many parts. It

is an attempt to improve speed and flexibility by reorganizing to increase local
control and execution of a service: improving the best case. It breaks away
from the prevailing hegemony, revolting against the frustrating bureaucratic
ways of old. Decentralization has three forms, namely devolution,
deconcentration, and debureaucratization. Devolution is the transfer of power
and authority from the national government to local government units both
political and territorial. Deconcentration is the transfer of power, authority or
responsibility or the discretion to plan, decide and manage from central to
local levels both administrative and sectoral. Debureaucratization is the
transfer of some public functions and responsibilities, which government may
perform, to private entities or NGOs.

In the 1980s, there has been an increasing shift toward decentralization.

This can be observed in almost every country across the globe. In the
Philippines, centralization was unable to respond to the demands. Thus, this
paved the way for decentralization. The enactment of the 1991 Local

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Government Code (LGC) represented a major step forward in decentralization
in the Philippines. It advanced local autonomy by devolving expenditure
responsibilities and expanding local government taxing authority.

Implementing decentralization as a form of administration became a

basic pillar of good governance since it yielded a lot of helpful changes to the
public. It created a big impact in the country and based on some sources,
decentralization is contributing to the democracy of the country as well as to
the speedy development of different areas nationwide most especially in
provinces. There are many benefits brought by decentralization. First, it
reduces the burden on top executives because decision-making doesnt solely
rely on them. Second, It facilitates diversification of products, activities,
markets, etc. according to the needs of the people in the community. Third, It
provides innovation on marketing products. Fourth, it provides better control
and supervision since on tasks assigned per area. Lastly, it makes decision-
making be quickly enacted.

Between the two forms of administration, the concept of

decentralization is more applicable in the Philippines since its geographical and
cultural structures are distributed. This concept fits better than that of
centralization because it meets the different kinds of needs of every individual
with distinct culture, practices, and beliefs. There may still be some flaws, but
it has somehow triggered both social and economic developments in most
parts of the country. The improvement of the country is not really totally
dependent on the form of administration. It is more dependent on the attitude
of the citizens in making their country a better place to live in. Even if the
government system is exemplary, yet the people dont have collaboration at
all, the system eventually becomes futile.