Given the vast scale of the global development challenge, it is increasingly clear that the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are pursued in a manner that is excessively top-down in nature and that the distance between central government authorities and their citizens is too large for central authorities to effectively empower the people over the public sector. This paper explores to what extent local public entitieswhether in the form of elected local governments or through deconcentrated local departments of the national government-can contribute to achieving poverty reduction and development outcomes.