Modernising town hall: Capacity building with a political twist

Capacity building is a frequent tonic prescribed for local governments in poor performance health. Such initiatives purport to get to the heart of governance with technical approaches that are free of partisanship and political controversy. Data from municipal governments newly affected by decentralisation and democratisation indicate that, contrary to expectations, the destiny of capacity building initiatives is dependent upon politics. In the first instance, capacity building initiatives are dependent on the orientation of elected and appointed leaders who choose to invest in or ignore them. Second, capacity building initiatives are significantly affected by electoral cycles that create moments when significant new capacity initiatives can be introduced and abandoned. Third, capacity building initiatives are dependent on the formal and informal institutions that determine how much scope public officials have for introducing change. Thus, while part of the popularity of capacity building programs and projects is their apparent distance from politics, those who wish to see the performance of government improved need to be sensitive to how it is affected-in positive and negative ways-by political preferences, calendars, and institutions. Data on 57 capacity building initiatives carried out in 30 medium sized municipalities in Mexico suggest the ways in which such factors shape the destinies of capacity building initiatives. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.