Subject(s): Municipal government -- Politics and government -- Finance and Administration -- Political economy of decentralization in Colombia and Chile : Political renewal and centralization in weal state, regionalism, centralism and crisis, politics and economics at the mid 1980s, decentralization since the 1991 constitution, decentralization in four Colombian cities, local politics since the election of mayors, clientelism, corruption and change, fiscal management and administrative capacity building, powers and functions of regional and local government in Chile, municipal and regional government in Chile, development paths in three cities, regional and local politics since democratization, municipalities - finance and administration, regional governments -- Development and institutional change : Stimulus to economic development, local activism and national recession in Colombia, growth, contradiction and frustration in Chile, role of institutions and institutional change, central government reform or local autonomy case of education, role of decentralization in educational reform, education in Chile and Colombia -- Decentralization, participation and poor, capacity building for poverty reduction in Colombia and Chile, community organizations and NGOs in Colombia and Chile, local governments, community organizations and NGOs, role of central government programs, generating virtuous circles in Rancagua and Pasto -- Decentralization and local economic development, education, poverty reduction