decentralization modelling

[arif@sweet.sdnpk.undp.org]

Dear System Dynamicists:

I am working with UNDP as a system dynamics modeler to develop a model,
which could explicitly incorporate the concept of adminstrative and finance
decentralization. Is there anyone who has come across a decentralization
model using system dynamcis approach?

Decentralization here is defined as the transfer of
authority and/or responsibility for performing a function from the
top management of an organization or the central govt. level of an
institution to lower units. It is assumed that if people are not empowered to
take responsibility for their own development within an enabling
framework provided by govt., development will not be sustainable. For a
sustainable development decisions must be transparent
instead of decisions taken by only central govt. Transparent decisions
involve people at local, district and province level.

Regards,
Arif Mehmood

_________________________________________________________________________
Arif Mehmood
United Nation Development Program
Saudi Pak Tower, 10th Floor
Islamabad. Pakistan
e-mail: arif@sweet.sdnpk.undp.org

[Bob Murray]

Arif and other System Dynamicists,

If this isnt the proper way to respond to the whole list, I apologize: I
just joined the list and I may not yet understand it.

To Arifs inquiry, I think the models of Howard T. Odum and some of the
work done at and for the Sante Fe Institute (e.g., the work on positive
feedback loops in economic systems [versus the diminishing returns
mechanism] by Brian Arthur) may offer the some useful ideas on how to model
abstractions like the concentration of political power and the effects of
alternative economic and financial infrastructures.

Odums books include Energy, Power, and Society (John Wiley, 1971: a good
place to begin). You can find the Sante Fe Institute on the Web; for
background, read the excellent and accessible book that explains everything
about the inductive approach to scientific thinking by M. Mitchell
Waldrops Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos
(Simon & Schuster, 1992).

I suggest that the crucial test for the realism of model-based examination
of concentrations of power would be to craft a model that would confirm the
commomly observed phenomenon that "power corrupts, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely".

Good luck, let us know how its going.

-Bob Murray
From: Bob Murray <huskynet@wolfenet.com>