While there are many analyses of fiscal decentralization as a policy strategy, little attention has been given to putting such programs into place. Yet it is in the implementation, and almost never in the general concept, where decentralization fails. This paper is meant to offer some rough guidelines for implementation-twelve general 'rules' that might form the basis of a decentralization strategy. We begin with a discussion of the rationale for fiscal decentralization, that is, with a statement of the objectives that should lead the design of a decentralization program. We turn then to the guidelines that could form the backbone of a strategy.