The concepts, policies, laws and practices regarding community-based forest management have changed over time. However, their objective is constant, namely to fight forest destruction and poverty... Show moreThe concepts, policies, laws and practices regarding community-based forest management have changed over time. However, their objective is constant, namely to fight forest destruction and poverty and to resolve conflicts regarding forest tenure. Securing community forest tenure is a way for achieving this objective. Forest tenure security, however, requires more than legalisation of community property rights by state law. It results from an interplay between state and/or community normative systems, actual practices and actors’ perceptions. Legalisation of rights by state institutions is only one facet of security, more specifically legal security of forest tenure that will be determined by the rights’ robustness, proper duration and strong legal protection. The security of community forest tenure will be also achieved through the ability of social norms to secure the rights of ordinary people. In addition, the consistent enforcement of the rules or norms by the officials or local authorities is necessary and the behaviour of these officials and local authorities must be in line with the interests and perception of the majority of community members. Last but not least, efforts of securing communities’ rights must take into consideration the specific history of land tenure and conflicts. Show less
Since the end of the twentieth century a broad and persistent movement away from centralized patterns of governance has become one of the defining trends in politics. In many new democracies the... Show moreSince the end of the twentieth century a broad and persistent movement away from centralized patterns of governance has become one of the defining trends in politics. In many new democracies the return to electoral politics has coincided with institutional reforms to promote decentralization. In Latin America, with its long and well-documented history of centralism, decentralization constitutes a departure from previous patterns of governance. This study seeks to shed light on the relationship between decentralization and political organization in Latin America, and aims to contribute to our understanding of how decentralization influences the way that conflicts in society are expressed, structured and managed through parties and party systems. Drawing on an in-depth study of Mexico as well as a comparative analysis of Latin American countries, it develops the argument that decentralization challenges political organization at the levels of party systems and organizations. The central contention is that a high level of decentralization can undermine the formation of nationalized party systems and cohesive parties. Decentralization affects the distribution of political and financial resources in the state and makes more resources available locally, and thus reshapes the context within which parties organize. Show less
