This issue of the GSoD In Focus explores the contribution that the Global State of Democracy (GSoD) Indices can make to the review of progress on the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The GSoD Indices can be used to complement the official indicators of the SDGs, to acquire in-depth knowledge on trends in achieving the specific targets of individual SDGs. In this regard, the GSoD Indices can be used to provide data on the SDGs for poverty (SDG 1), hunger (2), health and wellbeing (3), education (4), gender equality (5), inequalities (10), sustainable cities and communities (11), peace, justice and institutions (16), and partnerships for the goals (17), as well as across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Civil Service Act of 2007 was a significant enactment of reform in the island nation of the Maldives. It was part of the constitutional changes that the nation embarked on starting in 2003, which resulted in a new constitution leading to the country’s first multiparty elections for president and parliament. The initial focus of civil service reform in the Maldives was to change from a personalistic, patronage-driven system of public employment to a meritocratic employment system largely removed from the direct control of the elected government. Reforming the traditional centralized governance modalities was not the focus at that stage. The adopted civil service model was thus a continuation of a tradition of centralized governance through a statutory commission mandated with the overall human resource management of the civil service.

Karachi’s history has left a city riven by tribal, ethnic and sectarian divisions, which exhibits dimensions of fragility typical of ‘post-conflict’ cities. Pakistan has faced many challenges in establishing transparent government, and local government dissolution in 2009 led to a rapid increase in informal service provision, ghettoisation of low-income settlements, as sectarian violence left large parts of the city ungovernable. Through a case study of North Nazimabad, this paper explores the ensuing chasm and governance mechanisms that filled the gap, examining what happens when local government fails, and how groups and communities contest political, social and physical space.

Local governments have been explicitly recognised in the suite of international agreements, collectively known as the post-2015 Development Agenda. However, in post-conflict, in-conflict or fragile situations, the role of local governments and decentralisation processes more generally becomes even more complex than ‘normal’ development contexts. In the best-case scenario, decentralisation can be a tool to empower local communities, rebuild trust and transform conflicts. At the opposite end of the spectrum, it can be an instrument of domination or a new avenue for extending and firmly entrenching rent-seeking behaviour, eventually exacerbating conflict. This paper applies a practitioner’s lens to the papers included in this collection. It also draws on the author’s own experiences, most recently in Myanmar, which is emerging from international isolation, witnessing a huge and rapid economic and physical transformation, yet battling conflicts on several fronts. The role of local governments in this complex landscape is dynamic and rapidly evolving. The paper concludes by summarising the challenges faced by local governments in conflict, post-conflict and fragile contexts, and acknowledges the remarkable mobilisation and sustained advocacy by several local government associations and networks, many of which also came together under the umbrella of the Global Task Force of Local and Regional Governments.

The second edition of this popular and authoritative text provides a truly global assessment of democratization in theory and practice in the contemporary world. It has been systematically revised and updated throughout to cover recent developments, from the impact of 9/11 and EU enlargement to the war in Iraq.