1. Deconcentration or administrative decentralization - the dispersal of agents of higher levels of government into lower-level arenas.
2. Fiscal decentralization - the downward transfer of decision-making powers over funds to lower levels.
3. Devolution or democratic decentralization - the downward transfer of resources and powers (and often, tasks) to lower-level authorities which are in some way democratic

Decentralization can entail downward transfers of power, funds, etc., to the local (village, town, city) level, to intermediate (province, district, county, etc) levels, or to both at once. (For a fuller discussion of all of this, see Manor, 1999, Part I.)