Modular Comparisons : Grounding and Gauging Southeast Asian Governance (original) (raw)
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As with most concepts in the Social Sciences, governance has had to contend with a plethora of challenges, not the least of which covers questions regarding its meaning. This matter is made even more complicated with the fact that by its very nature, the term is, and indeed may be approached from the perspective of various academic disciplines. Not a single discipline can claim a monopoly on its use. However, a great number of the academic and even practical work on the issue has been made using the lenses of Public Administration (PA). In the Philippines, this is best exemplified by the name it has given to its premier PA academic institution – the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG). Yet, the fact remains that other disciplines and areas of interest such as Political Science, International Political Economy, Management, Business Administration, and others make use of the term routinely and has in fact arrogated it to form part of their respective lexic...
Yap - Good Governance and Decentralization in Southeast Asia
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Good governance is defined here as "the quality of the relationship between the government and its citizens whom it exists to serve and protect" and operationalized as "the quality of the ways in which decisions on public affairs are reached and are implemented, and by implication the quality of the decisions as such". Criteria for good governance include participation, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability, rule of law, subsidiarity, effectiveness and efficiency.
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Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 2024
This study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the organizational structures, financial capacities, citizen engagement mechanisms, technology utilization, and common challenges faced by Local Government Units (LGUs) across Southeast Asian nations. Drawing insights from a diverse range of scholarly works, including books, theses, published dissertations, and electronic journals, the research investigates key dimensions that shape local governance dynamics in the region. The investigation into organizational structures delves into the nuances of centralization vs. decentralization, federal structures, hierarchical frameworks, policy harmonization, and community engagement practices. The study uncovers how these structural variances impact the efficiency and effectiveness of local governance. Examining financial capacities and resource management practices, the research reveals substantial differences among LGUs in terms of the system of government and the subdivision of state. This prompts a call for tailored fiscal policies and collaborative initiatives to optimize resource utilization and financial autonomy. Citizen engagement mechanisms emerge as a focal point, with a notable emphasis placed on fostering inclusive decision-making processes. The study finds a high commitment to citizen involvement within Southeast Asian LGUs, urging continued support for transparent and responsive local governance. Technological adoption and digital strategies come under scrutiny, highlighting disparities, diverse adoption rates, and an increasing embrace of digital communication strategies. Recommendations include addressing digital divides and promoting comprehensive digital strategies for efficient public service delivery and citizen engagement. Finally, the study explores common challenges faced by LGUs in Southeast Asian nations, such as corruption, political dynamics, and capacity constraints. It underscores the interconnected nature of these challenges, emphasizing the need for holistic solutions and comprehensive reforms to strengthen governance structures. This research contributes to the existing literature by synthesizing insights from various sources, providing a nuanced understanding of local governance in Southeast Asia. Policymakers, researchers, and practitioners can leverage these findings to inform strategic interventions, foster collaboration, and promote effective governance practices across the region.
Social and economic changes in the international community in recent decades have diminished the authority and legitimacy of national government in many countries. In Southeast Asia, several countries have experimented with the decentralization reform that aims at reducing the national government prerogatives and transferring administrative responsibilities and functions to the local level. Despite the New Public Management (NPM) philosophy underlying the reform efforts, there is a variety of the implementation processes and outcomes in the Southeast Asian countries (World 2000). In this essay, the main argument is that the political autonomy of a country's national bureaucracy plays an instrumental role in determining the decentralization reform outcome. This degree of political autonomy is contingent upon the power configuration of national government institutions surrounding the time of modern state founding (Riggs 1966; Hutchcroft 2000). With this fundamental argument, this essay offers a comparative analysis of the decentralization reforms in Thailand and the Philippines to demonstrate the role of national bureaucracy in the relationship between central and local governments.
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This special issue explores and analyzes governance and policy issues in South, Southeast, and East Asia. 1 The nine papers in this issue were presented at a similarly titled conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2012. 2 The authors map governance challenges and analyze its current trends from the perspectives of politics and administration. Public administration and governance systems in these regions have witnessed some phenomenal changes during the last three decades and have played a key role in the economic progress, especially in the Southeast and East Asian nations. Rich with evidence and analyses, these papers use empirical and other research methods to examine contemporary bestpractice paradigms. Their additional aim is to develop the understanding of changes in the forms of governance, both within the national context and in a comparative perspective. The regions of South, Southeast, and East Asia contain enormous geographical, cultural, religious, and ethnic variation. They are also "diverse in political and constitutional systems and their performance in managing the economy is uneven" (Haque 2001:1290). Some countries in Southeast and East Asia may already qualify as developed nations, but most of South Asia is beset with poor governance, lack of rule of law, and widespread corruption. This is the case despite these countries, in the last decade or so, witnessing steady and impressive economic growth. In the context of governance, the huge differences in the South, Southeast, and East Asian countries reflect the countries' unique cultures, history, demography and geography, political
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The Crisis of Democratic Governance in Southeast Asia, 2011
The contributors to this edited collection analyze various aspects of democratic governance. The volume is organized into three thematic sections, each of which deals with different aspects of democratic governance in the region. The first section examines political culture, civil society, and democracy. The second part offers comparative analyses of institutional design systems of political representation. The third section centres on aspects of political performance and governance such as human rights performance, security sector governance, and the external as well as internal 'peacefulness' of the political regimes in Southeast Asia. The final chapter connects the insights derived from individual chapters and presents a comparative assessment of political performance and governance in democratic and non-democratic regimes in the region. Furthermore, it provides a comparative analysis of factors that are conducive or obstructive to future democratic change and democratic stability in Southeast Asia.
Globality Studies Journal, 2007
Southeast Asia displays a problematic relationship between elitist calls for "good governance" and democracy. While opposing dictatorships accused of mismanagement and cronyism, regional upper and middle class activists invoked the discourse of "good governance." Yet elitist-led "civil society" later redirected this discourse against democratically elected populist politicians accused of corruption. This dialectic has destabilized democracy in the Philippines and, to a lesser extent, Indonesia, and was a major cause of the recent democratic breakdown in Thailand. Renewed reformism has failed in the Philippines and is in trouble in Thailand, reviving critiques of governance by elites while antagonizing the poor who supported toppled populist leaders. Plagued by patrimonialism, Indonesian democracy remains under less direct threat as its civil society is weaker and a populist challenge has yet to emerge. A brief comparison with Venezuela suggests that the dialectic between "good governance" discourse and populist democratic rule affects other regions as well.
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The aim of Public Administration, Governance and Globalization (PAGG) is to publish primary research and theoretical contributions as well as practical reports on fieldwork to help advance the knowledge and understanding about public, nonprofit, private, and non governmental organizations and institutions. The governance, administration, and management of these organizations at local, national, regional, and international levels will be discussed in the context of this age of rapid change and globalization. This series on public management offers original materials that contribute to our better understanding of the critical issues as well as routine processes of governance and public administration, now more than ever because of the intricate forces of globalization that affect almost every nation-states and their policy choices at all jurisdictions across the world. The series covers a wide range of topics that address the key issues of interest to scholars, educators, practitioners, and policymakers in public administration capacities around the globe. Books in the series could be research monographs, edited volumes, textbooks, reference volumes