Ethnographic Note on Municipal Governments in Bolivia, Panama, and Zambia

Abstract

Municipal government is essential to the democratic development of 44% of the world’s population who live in developing countries, and understanding the origins of well-functioning municipal governments is important. Small-N, qualitative comparison of municipal governments in rural Bolivia, Panama, and Zambia based on ethnographic field observation reveals that the Bolivian municipalities functioned better despite similar challenges. Political party development was likely important in improving the performance of the Bolivian municipal governments, and comparative politics institutional theory can help organize the original data generated by this study. Comparison across two continents increases external validity of this study over traditional area studies.