Entry requirements

To be eligible for this course Development Studies A or the equivalent is required. For exchange students only.

Learning outcomes

The goal of this course is to introduce the student to different aspects of decentralisation and how decentralisation impacts on various dimensions of development. Theories on decentralisation and development will be related to Swedish policy on democracy and how development cooperation may promote local democracy and empowerment of poor people.

After completion of the course, students are expected to have acquired the following knowledge and skills:

• Understand and apply basic theories and concepts relating to decentralisation and development

• Summarise the main components of a decentralisation reform

• Analyse and present the main priorities of Swedish development cooperation policy for democracy and human rights

• Formulate and present a research task in response to a request for knowledge assistance by a development cooperation agency – formulated in a Terms of Reference – within the area of democracy and development

• to critically examine a (consultancy-)report from a research- and development cooperation perspective

• Understand the main components of a development cooperation agency’s process for the formulation of concrete support modalities

Content

Swedish Development cooperation policy puts a strong emphasis on the importance of democracy and human rights as preconditions for the empowerment of poor people. At the same time, more and more countries choose to increase and empower local decision-making institutions and local development processes within for example health and education.

This course aims to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of development cooperation work and how research can contribute and improve support to democracy and development. The course will in detail follow the process of designing support to the ongoing decentralisation process in Tanzania – with Swedish policy and Partner country priorities as the points of departure.

The teaching will be designed around Sida’s process for arriving at concrete support modalities to partner countries. The students will formulate a research design in response to a Sida Terms of Reference for knowledge support, and present and critically examine the winning tender’s consultancy report – thus providing the students with good insights of opportunities and challenges of development cooperation in practise.

Instruction

The course consists of lectures on decentralisering, local democracy and development, development policy and processes of development cooperation. The seminars will follow a concrete aid process from the input from research and knowledge production to implementation of support programmes.

Representatives from the development cooperation area will participate in the course and a study-visit to a Swedish organisation or agency that works specifically with the development cooperation is part of the course.

All instructions for the seminar assignments will be available at Studentportalen at the start of the course.

The course is taught in English.

Assessment

Examination of this course is through group seminar assignments, active participation during seminars and through a written exam. Grades are awarded according to the scale “failed”, “pass” or “pass with distinction”. Examination is based on the written seminar assignment as well as on active participation in the seminars and the written exam. For the grade “pass” it is required that the student will have handed in satisfactory solutions to all group assignments on time, actively participated in the seminars and achieved the grade “pass” on the written exam. For the “pass with distinction” grade the student must achieve the “pass with distinction” grade on the exam and achieved “pass” on the seminars.

Other regulations

This course is for exchange students only.