A Modified Actor-Power-Accountability Framework (MAPAF) for analyzing decentralized forest governance: case study...

Area of Science:

• Environmental Policy
• Governance Studies
• Forest Management

Background:

• The Actor-Power-Accountability Framework (APAF) by Agrawal and Ribot (1999) provides a basis for analyzing decentralization.
• Decentralized forest policies require robust frameworks to assess their effectiveness and impacts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a Modified Actor-Power-Accountability Framework (MAPAF).
• To improve the analysis of decentralized property rights, policy outputs, and outcomes.
• To incorporate contextual factors into the assessment of decentralization reforms.

Main Methods:

• Application of the Modified Actor-Power-Accountability Framework (MAPAF).
• Analysis of outputs and outcomes from two major decentralized forest policies in Ethiopia: delegation and devolution.

Main Results:

• MAPAF facilitates comparison of democratization across different decentralizing reforms by incorporating property rights.
• MAPAF links decentralization outputs to local social and environmental outcomes.
• MAPAF's inclusion of contextual factors enhances explanatory power for decentralization outcomes.

Conclusions:

• MAPAF offers a more comprehensive approach to analyzing decentralized forest policies.
• The framework improves the assessment of democratization, local impacts, and external influences on policy outcomes.
• MAPAF provides valuable insights for designing and evaluating future decentralization efforts.