Decentralization in Ecuador offers a new provocative interpretation in understanding why and how power, as well as resources, are shifted to local levels of government. The book argues that actors and their incentives are the driving force for change legislators and labor unions, indigenous people and presidents, finance ministers and regional governors are the real protagonists of the game of decentralization. It shows why Ecuador's different interest groups achieved breakthroughs to redistribute resources at particular moments in time, but failed so remarkably in others, falling onto the path of "successful failure." As becomes apparent time and again, ironically it is often the winners of partial decentralization that provide the greatest obstacle to complete reform and achieve more beneficial outcomes. Drawing from first-hand experience with Ecuadorian policymakers, Decentralization in Ecuador presents conclusions about political strategies that have important implications for al