Contents -- List of Tables -- List of Figures -- List of Appendices -- List of Abbreviations -- Preface -- Notes on the Contributors -- Central-Local Relations: Themes and Issues -- Decentralization in Bangladesh: Promises, Performances and Politics -- Beyond Integration? The Need to Decentralize Central- Regional/ Local Relations in Indonesia -- Central-Local Relations in Thailand: Bureaucratic Centralism and Democratization -- Philippines: From Centralism to Localism -- Decentralization in Papua New Guinea: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back -- Scale and Governance in the South Pacific -- Rethinking the Philosophy of Central- Local Relations in Post- Central- Planning Vietnam -- Central-Local Relations in the Lao People's Democratic Republic: Historic Overview, Current Situation and Trends -- Conclusion: Learning from the Case- Studies -- Index.