1 Work with local democratic institutions as a first priority. Governments, donors, and NGOs can foster local accountability by (1) choosing to work with and build on elected local governments where they exist, (2) insisting on and encouraging their creation elsewhere, (3) encouraging electoral processes that admit independent candidates (since most do not), and (4) applying multiple accountability measures to all institutions making public decisions.

2 Transfer sufficient and appropriate powers. Governments, donors, NGOs, and the research community should work to develop "environmental subsidiarity principles" to guide the transfer of appropriate and sufficient powers to local authorities. Guidelines are also needed to assure an effective separation and balance of executive, legislative, and judiciary powers in the local arena.

3 Transfer powers as secure rights. To encourage local institutions and people to invest in new arrangements and to enable local people to be enfranchised as citizens rather than managed as subjects, governments should use secure means to transfer powers to local authorities. Secure transfers can create the space for local people to engage their representatives as citizens. Transfers made as privileges subject local people to the whims of the allocating agencies and authorities.

4 Support equity and justice. Central government intervention may be needed for redressing inequities and preventing elite capture of public decision-making processes. Central government also must establish the enabling legal environment for organizing, representation, rights, and recourse so that local people can demand government responsibility, equity, and justice for themselves. 5 Establish minimum environmental standards. Governments should shift from a management-planning to a minimum-environmental-standards approach. Broad minimum standards can facilitate ecologically sound independent local decision making.

6 Establish fair and accessible adjudication. Governments should establish accessible independent courts, channels of appeal outside of the government agencies involved in natural resource management, and local dispute-resolution mechanisms. Donors and NGOs can also support alternative adjudication mechanisms to supplement official channels instead of replacing them.

7 Support local civic education. Governments, donors, and NGOs can inform people of their rights, write laws in clear and accessible language, and translate legal texts into local languages to encourage popular engagement and local government responsibility. When there are meaningful rights it is critical for people to know them. Educating local authorities of their rights and responsibilities can also foster responsible local governance.

8 Give decentralization time. Judge decentralization only after it has been tried. Give it sufficient time to stabilize and bear fruit.

9 Develop indicators for monitoring and evaluating decentralization and its outcomes. By developing and monitoring indicators of progress in decentralization legislation, implementation and outcomes can be evaluated and provide needed feedback that could keep decentralization initiatives on track. Rigorous research is always needed.