R. Andrew Nickson is Honorary Reader in Public Management and Latin American Development at the University of Birmingham with experience of teaching, research and consultancy on public administration reform, local governance, decentralization and reform of urban water supply. He had long-term work attachments in Sierra Leone, Nepal and Paraguay. He writes for the Economist Intelligence Unit, Oxford Analytica and Jane’s Information Group and is Associate Expert in Governance, UNDP Regional Service Centre, Panama and trainer for the Commonwealth Secretariat and United Nations System Staff College, Turin.