Inter-Syrian dialogue is increasingly converging on the establishment of a form of democratic decentralization as a cornerstone of the country’s future political order. This report serves as a baseline for any future local governance assistance framework as part of stabilization programming following a political settlement based on United Nations Security Council resolution 2254.

The study seeks to map the functional presence of local governments and the varieties of de facto decision-making arrangements in five sites across the country. The selected areas fall under the control of the Government, the autonomous administration in the north-east, the Turkish authorities along the border, and Hay’et Tahrir al Sham (HTS) in the north-west.