The Observatory of Municipal Autonomy (OdAM) is an entity created to support the processes of analysis, formulation and design of policies that favor municipal autonomy in Central America and the Dominican Republic. This work is achieved by innovating information aggregation methodologies, under articulated work schemes between beneficiaries and managers. The OdAM is a unit linked to the National Associations of Municipalities, with an interdisciplinary character and its operation is continuous. It is part of the DEMUCA Foundation of Spanish Development Cooperation (AECID)[1].

The OdAM arises as a need raised by the National Associations of Municipalities in Central America and the Dominican Republic in the face of a series of political and institutional changes that have had an impact on restructuring processes of both the functions of the State and the regulations that regulate and protect public administration. At the municipal level, these restructurings have also been evident and consecutive; The same can be seen, for example, with decentralization policies that seek to guarantee actions from the central government to local governments that legitimize municipal autonomy.

It is in this context that the DEMUCA Foundation establishes a framework agreement with the Development Observatory of the University of Costa Rica to make the construction of the OdAM effective. This is given that, although it is true that the Foundation has extensive experience in issues related to municipal development and its autonomy, it was necessary to have experts for the construction of a specialized thematic observatory. The OdAM is currently coordinated by PhD. Jean-Paul Vargas and is made up of a group of expert researchers in each of the countries in the region included.

Among the main publications and investigative processes carried out by the OdAM are:[2]​[3]​.

• - OdAM. Municipal Autonomy Observatory: Municipal autonomy in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

• - Electoral engineering and behavior at the municipal level in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

• - Territorialization of public policies: Inter-institutional coordination in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

• - Political Autonomy: Municipal governance in Central America and the Dominican Republic.

• - Municipal Autonomy Perception Index: Central America and the Dominican Republic.

• - [|https://web.archive.org/web/20110908023810/http://www.odam-ca.org/ OdAM].