Local Government Reforms in Armenia: How Relationships and Governance Shape Success

This paper examines the impact of Armenia’s large-scale local government reforms— particularly municipal amalgamation and decentralisation—on service delivery and local democracy. Drawing on a mixed-methods design that combines interviews, focus group discussions, and policy documents, the study finds that while some communities reported improved access to services and administrative capacity, overall satisfaction with service delivery declined, particularly in larger and titular municipalities. The success of the reforms was strongly conditioned by multilevel governance and political- administrative relations, including trust levels, resource allocation, and administrative discretion. The paper contributes to decentralisation literature by showing that institutional restructuring alone does not ensure service or democratic improvements; outcomes are contingent on relational and political dynamics.