SEMINAR - Indigenous Commercial Ambitions and Decentralisation: the Initial Provincial Government Debate in Papua New Guinea Reconstructed - 12 OCT 2015

Decentralisation of government and administration was introduced in Papua New Guinea during the 1970s. It has been claimed that reshaping of the post-colonial state occurred in response to demands for greater popular participation as a counter to the centralisation of colonial authority and its authoritarian character. According to an early summary of the reasons for decentralisation: `One of the most important (was) the need to increase popular participation in the decision-making process, partly because such participation encourages a sense of involvement in and commitment to local development programmes, and partly because in many societies it is regarded as a basic human right which was denied to most people under colonial rule' (Conyers 1976, 1).