Parallel Paths to Local Democracy in Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 104-132
Author(s):  
Brian Wampler ◽  
Stephanie McNulty ◽  
Michael Touchton
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Change ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
First Century ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Public Decision

Extensive experimentation with new democratic institutions took place in Asia across the 1980s and 1990s, but PB only formally arrived at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The spread of PB across Asia thus stems from democratic impulses to empower citizens in new democracies. This chapter focuses on three countries—South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia—to illuminate key trends in the region. The chapter shows that a small number of local governments initially adopted “PB-like” programs. Positive evaluations of these programs then spurred national governments to mandate PB to incorporate large segments of the population in public decision-making. An additional focus, toward the end of this chapter, is the expansion of PB to China because it helps to illuminate how the malleability of PB’s rules enables local governments to implement the program in authoritarian contexts; the use of PB by authoritarian governments is one of the most controversial issues facing PB today. The cases from Asia reviewed in this chapter offer the promise of social and political change. However, the limitations on evidence means that enough information about these programs’ specific impacts is still lacking.

The Complexity Surrounding Market Rationale in Public Decision Making in the Twenty-First Century

2018 ◽  
pp. 185-195
Author(s):  
Bakry Elmedni
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Public Organizations ◽  
First Century ◽  
Alternative Methods ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Market Rationality ◽  
Public Decision ◽  
Public Decision Making

Applying market rationale to public decision making has been in the center of the debates in both political and academic circles. Theoretically, these debates center on the role of government in society and how that role should be played. This chapters shows that applying market rationality to public decision making is problematic for three reasons. First, in reality, neither market nor individuals can be rational as envisioned in neoclassic economics. Second, public organizations pursue broad social goals that are often not measurable by market indicators. Third, the context within which public decisions are made is governed by legal and constitutional mandates that do not always suit market rationale, i.e. utility maximizations. Notwithstanding this, public choice theory can provide public organizations with alternative methods for maximizing social benefits. In doing so, public organizations have been adopting market-based standards as a method to promote performance and manage for results.

Do migrant remittances improve the quality of government? Evidence from the Philippines

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 336-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rollin F Tusalem
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
National Level ◽  
State Level ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Political Accountability ◽  
Migrant Remittances ◽  
Filipino Migrants ◽  
Using Data ◽  
National Governments

Migrant remittances have been linked to improving the quality of government and political accountability in the developing world. The argument is that migrants have the capacity to withhold remittances to their families when they deem that their local governments are blighted with corruption and bureaucratic inefficiency. Relatedly, migrants also empower citizens in sub-national regions by providing funds to family members who become less beholden to clientistic ties with political parties which concomitantly foster state-level corruption. Thus, relatives of migrants also become social agents who will increasingly expect better governmental performance and demand higher levels of political accountability at the sub-national level. Using data provided by the Philippine National Statistics Office and the National Statistical Coordinating Board of the Philippines (NSCB hereafter), the study provides empirical evidence that the number of migrants (by province) and the amount of remittances sent by migrants are positively associated with governmental effectiveness and higher levels of human development at the provincial level. It is also found that opportunistic shirking on the part of the sub-national governments is also not occurring, as remittances also induce provincial governments to spend more on their citizens, which will likely lead to better public goods provision. The overall findings imply that just like their counterparts from other developing countries, Filipino migrants are agents of democratic accountability.

Citizenship at the Margins: Exploring Participation as ‘Right to the City’ in Vizhinjam, Kerala

Urbanisation ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-93
Author(s):  
Aarathi Ganga
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Right To The City ◽  
Fishing Community ◽  
Urban Citizenship ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Right ◽  
National Governments ◽  
The City

This article explores the nature of urban citizenship among fishers in Kerala, one of the state’s most marginalised communities, by analysing their participation in a centrally sponsored slum rehabilitation programme—Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY)—in Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram. The ‘right to participate’ is considered an integral part of the ‘right to the city’, and the inability of the fishing community to participate in the decision-making processes of urban development programmes that directly affect their lives reveals the exclusionary nature of their citizenship. In a state that is renowned for its achievements in human development and governance, the fishing community continues to be marginalised and lack collective power to influence policies. Participatory meetings in such contexts become tokenistic, and their transformative capacity is undermined. The inefficiency of participatory meetings organised under RAY also stems from the powerlessness of local governments to alter urban programmes designed by national governments.

Bioboard

2008 ◽  
Vol 12 (08) ◽  
pp. 5-17
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Tamil Nadu ◽  
Joint Venture ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Treatment Center ◽  
Bird Flu ◽  
Flu Vaccine ◽  
Biomedical Electronics ◽  
Set Up

AUSTRALIA — New Meningococcal Test to Identify Genetic Predisposition AUSTRALIA — Scientists Discover the Double Life of Proteins AUSTRALIA — Gene Discovery Offers Cancer Hope CHINA — The American Psychiatric Association's Awards for Young Scientists Encourage Research Expertise in China CHINA — DuPont Partners with China to Increase Farm Productivity CHINA — Deadly Enterovirus Afflicts Chinese Children CHINA — CAS Researchers Decode Genome of Mosquito-Killing Bacterium CHINA — CAS, Local Governments to Jointly Set Up a Biomedical Institute in Suzhou CHINA — Chinese and US Scientists Map Papaya Genes CHINA — Genzyme to Build New R&D Center in Beijing INDIA — Avesthagen Launches Bioactive Teestar INDIA — Scientists Find Kala-azar Protein INDIA — Bayer Launches Disease-Resistant Hybrid Rice Arize Dhani INDIA — SCHOTT Forms Pharmaceutical Joint Venture in India INDIA — IIT Mumbai Develops Chip to Detect Myocardial Infarction INDIA — Tamil Nadu Plans Poison Treatment Center in Every District INDIA — RFCL Opens Integrated Manufacturing Plant in India JAPAN — Pfizer to Launch Champix® – The First Prescription Oral Smoking Cessation Aid in the Country NEW ZEALAND — Asthma Linked to High Fat Diet PHILIPPINES — Surge in Dengue Cases in the Philippines SOUTH KOREA — Bird Flu Outbreaks Spread in South Korea SINGAPORE — Edwards Lifesciences Opens Its First Heart Valve Manufacturing Facility in Singapore SINGAPORE — Bioimaging and Stem Cell Research in Singapore gets a Million Dollar Boost from Latest Grant Calls by A*STAR SINGAPORE — Maccine Receives Bio-Industry Award for Best Preclinical or Clinical CRO in Asia TAIWAN — New Group for Biomedical Electronics Established TAIWAN — Stroke Evaluation Indicator Discovered VIETNAM — Vietnam Bird Flu Vaccine Returns Positive Results

Territorial Changes to Municipalities and Inter-Municipal Cooperation: A Comparative Overview and Orientations for Slovenia

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 731-748 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iztok Rakar ◽  
Bojan Tičar ◽  
Maja Klun
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Public Decision

Local self-government has faced a number of challenges over the past decade. The financial crisis has revealed new dimensions of the eternal question of financing self-governing local communities, while distrust and a lack of interest in participation in local democracy among the people have led to considerations of different approaches to public decision-making concerning local issues. A comparative overview shows that the question of the “perfect size” of municipalities is currently very relevant and aimed at finding dimensions that would enable the municipality to ensure both local-level democracy and identity and economic efficiency in the delivery of public services. The most popular tool for achieving this goal is the merger of municipalities, although other approaches also exist, including various forms of inter-municipal cooperation. Some forms of inter-municipal cooperation have already taken firm hold in Slovenia, although the question of the potential impacts of alternative forms of inter-municipal cooperation on the democratic legitimacy of decision-making processes and the potential of these processes for the developmental breakthrough of Slovenian municipalities has yet to receive adequate attention.

Federalismo fiscale e finanza locale

1984 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-84
Author(s):  
Giorgio Stefani
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Choice ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Fiscal Crisis ◽  
Economic Rationality ◽  
Local Finance ◽  
Simple Basis ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Public Decision

Abstract The «fiscal crisis» cannot be solved on the simple basis of principles of economic rationality, without taking account of the institutional mechanisms. Politicians, bureaucrats, voters, do have a role in public decision-making and their behavior cannot be ignored.According to a generally shared view, local finance looks as an interesting field of research for Public Choice scientists since at local level the voter's ability to control the institutions is higher than at national level.This is true, however, only if we limit our attention to the relationship between local administrators and citizens. When the analysis includes the competition for funds among local governments, we have to deal with national problems, requiring the inclusion of variables whose behaviour is uneasy to predict.

Deciding for Responsibility and Legitimation: Alternative Interpretations of Organizational Decision‐Making

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nils Brunsson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Decision Processes ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Organizational Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Validity ◽  
Organizational Action ◽  
National Governments

Recent studies have questioned the empirical validity of the equating of decision and choice and pointed at another role that organizational decisions sometimes play — the role of mobilizing organizational action, a role that requires less rationality than choice. But choice and mobilization are not the only roles of decision-making and decisions in organizations. This chapter argues that two additional roles exist — decisions may allocate responsibility and legitimacy to decision-makers and organizations. The chapter also considers how the different roles can explain the design of decision processes, the use of information and the number of decisions in organizations. The discussion is based on empirical studies of decision processes in such organizations: in local governments, national governments, and company boards. The eight decision processes studied concern city budgets, investments and disinvestments, and governmental programmes.

Does e-participation Influence and Improve Political Decision Making Processes? Evidence From a Local Government

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 873-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ángel Iglesias Alonso ◽  
Roberto Luciano Barbeito
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Large City ◽  
City Government ◽  
Local Democracy ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Local Decision Making

In Local Governments, the quality of representative democracy is also measured by the extent to which demands of citizens and groups influence the agendas of local politicians. In this context, the potential of Internet and the NIT as tools that encourage participation, exchange and deliberation, have not been fully explored by either the local elites or the citizens to foster the discursive and decision-making dimensions of local democracy. But despite the growing importance of e-participation in improving local democracy, it remains unclear to what extent it also contributes to the introduction of new repertoires of action to improve efficiency and quality of local public service provision and, therefore, involving citizens meaningfully in the decision-making process continues to be a challenge. With this in mind and using recent empirical evidence from the current development of e-participation to improve administrative performance in a large city government, intended to enhance not only local democracy but also better decision-making, the paper focus on this gap on research by exploring to what extent e-participation contributes to foster, influence and improve local decision-making.

scholarly journals Building ships while breaking apart

Focaal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (89) ◽  
pp. 12-24
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Schober
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
First Century ◽  
The Political ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Maritime Industry ◽  
Industrial Enterprises ◽  
Economic Actor ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Risky Business

With the center of gravity of the maritime industry over recent decades progressively moving eastwards, South Korea is today a giant in both shipping and shipbuilding. Its largely family-controlled industrial enterprises are nowadays increasingly engaged in risky business experiments abroad, which on occasion fail in a spectacular manner. By following the story of how one family-run economic actor invested unsuccessfully in the Philippines, I combine an exploration of the political-economic factors involved in this failure with an investigation of how these larger structures are entangled with a complex family story inside a Korean conglomerate. The forced separation between family and business that ensued in this case illuminates changing and competing ideals of “waterborne” capitalism in the twenty-first century.

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