Decentralization

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Decentralization (from Latin de = from, away and center = to be in the middle) is a relative term that forms a pair of terms with centrality . It has a different meaning in different areas and eras.

Concept history

In 1846, in the state lexicon, decentralization was understood in economic and political terms as the elimination of violence in a state or economic center. Here, too, the breaking up of the accumulation of property and capital to a few was seen as decentralization. In general, however, not only economic and political aspects were to be understood under the term, but also social ones such as family, community or church. In 1923, the two terms centralization and decentralization were viewed as a pair of terms, on the basis of which further definitions were linked. Political decentralization was also assumed here, and administrative problems were considered. The focus here was on which form of organization could be viewed as the better one. In 1923 this was related to the Prussian administrative reform.

Principles of decentralization

Decentralization is an essential principle of complex adaptive systems . Here control is distributed over all components of the system, for example cells in the organism, computers on the Internet and individuals in organizations.

Design principle

Distributed systems have become ubiquitous in the last few decades due to the success of the World Wide Web. The Internet, peer-to-peer networks, grid computing and mobile devices together form a distributed, heterogeneous, dynamic and complex infrastructure on the basis of which distributed information systems provide global services. The constantly increasing complexity means that centralized top-down approaches to control are increasingly reaching their limits. Bottom-up approaches are examined in research in order to gain new knowledge and design complex systems.

Organizational principle

Self-organization plays a key role in controlling complex systems (technical, political, biological). There are multiple reasons for that:

distribution
  • Central resources are limited in their ability to store, transfer and process data. Information cannot always be centralized.
  • Information asymmetry that restricts communication exists in cross-company business environments. Information cannot always be centralized.
dynamics
while a solution is being created centrally, the problem has already changed.
Heterogeneity
the components of the systems differ in terms of their properties such as functionality and structure and membership of different organizations.
complexity
From a central point of view (top-down), complex structures can no longer be analyzed for cause and effect causalities.

Aspects such as self-X properties of organic systems play a major role here. The understanding of the mechanisms involved is examined in organic computing , for example .

Social areas

There are different approaches to the term decentralization in different disciplines.

Decentralization in politics

Decentralization stands in politics or in political science as a collective term for political measures. The aim of these measures is to transfer more decision-making authority and responsibility to the lower political levels, usually in order to overcome the traditional centralized-hierarchical structure of the state administration and to locate the political decision-making processes where the problems to be solved arise. The French semi-presidential system can be cited as an example .

Decentralization in the economy

In the economy there are several types of decentralized approaches, whereby this mostly means the distribution of the subtasks to different positions. It should be noted that decentralization processes, i.e. the distribution of tasks, can simultaneously result in a centralization of the task characteristic. An example of this is outsourcing , as it happens in the automotive industry. On the other hand, decentralization can prevent the agent from specializing in the underlying task complex. For example, if, in the course of decentralization, one institution still has several tasks, as is the case with franchise companies . Here it is important to consider the respective context. Articles on decentralization and decentralization have appeared in reference works in political and economic sciences since the mid-19th century. The term decentralization has been popular since the turn of the millennium, especially in business-oriented magazines. One reason for this is the financial crisis, which, among other things, had enormous effects due to the large, central structures.

Decentralization in technology

There are different definitions of decentralization in technology:

Decentralization in spatial planning

Spatial planning knows the system of central locations for spatial planning, in which lower, middle and upper centers are determined which have certain functions. Decentralized models would distribute these functions more freely. Decentralized concentration is a combination of the models that puts a stop to urban sprawl and yet does not provide for a full focus on urban megacentres.

See also

  • Conceptual pair center / periphery

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carl von Rotteck, Carl Welcker (ed.): Das Staats-Lexikon . Encyclopedia of all political sciences for all classes. Volume 4. 1846.
  2. ↑ Paul Herre (Ed.): Political Concise Dictionary . 1st volume. 1923.
  3. ↑ MKWI08
  4. ↑ G. Di Marzo Serugendo, A. KARAGEORGOS, OF Rana, F. Zambonelli: Engineering Self-Organizing Systems Nature-Inspired Approaches to Software Engineering . Springer-Verlag, Berlin / Heidelberg, 2004.
  5. ↑ M.Matthies: Introduction to Systems Science . ( Memento from July 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Lecture notes, 2002 (PDF)
  6. ↑ BauBeratungArchitektur, 2005: New Testo AG building in Kirchzarten / Saving costs through D., BBA, 4, 2005, p. 58.
  7. ↑ Study on decentralized energy supply 2020, 2007: Energietechnische Gesellschaft im VDE, 2007, p. 11.
  8. ↑ Ulf Hannerz: Center-Periphery Relationships . In: International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences . 2001, pp. 1610-1613.