Local Government System Case Study

Rudolph Tumbaga December 19, 2014

POS 191.2 A Long Test #1

1.) There have been extensive attempts to classify local government systems in the West. However, in Southeast Asia, studies on local governments have been done on a per country basis, but never collectively. By what criteria do you think that local government systems in Southeast Asia be classified? Why?

I think that local government systems in Southeast Asia should be classified as decentralized Asian community governments. Southeast Asia is one of the regions in the world that have been colonized by the west in the 15th to the mid 20th century because of Western, specifically European and later the American, economic expansion. Primarily, the European

Institutions provide this backdrop in a region or state’s accounts and behavioural processes that are vital in observing and studying a state’s existence and phenomena. Although it is not explicitly stated, the United Nations defined this as governance as “the exercise of political, economic and administrative authority in the management of a country’s affairs (Cheema and Rondinelli 2007).” With this, institutions serve as a vantage point as to how states led into decentralization. For instance, past political experiences of Southeast Asia were very different from today. In fact, most Southeast Asian countries were highly centralized governments because of colonial rule, the emergence of centralized theories in the 1950s to the 1960s and the task of nation/state building which was an arduous task after colonial rule (Cheema and Rondinelli 2007). Eventually, globalization occurred, which urged many states to reconsider location assets such as towns and rural areas and set up local governments there in order to maximize revenue and improve the local economy (Cheema and Rondinelli 2007). Such dynamics will compel states to change or reform their public policies to suit the needs of a decentralizing government. The local sector will be empowered depending on the mandate of the national government and the private sector will freely choose its location

Based on your current understanding of Southeast Asian countries’ political history and culture, what form of decentralization is most appropriate? Why?

In Southeast Asia, fiscal decentralization is the most appropriate form of decentralization.

Most governments in Southeast Asia have different modes and forms of government depending on their historical backdrop and territorial architecture. Even then, these two modes of government (unitary and federal) provide different opportunities for fiscal decentralization (Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations 2001).

Fiscal decentralization involves shifting of responsibilities for expenditures and/or revenues to lower levels of government (Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations 2001). It takes accountability of governments through financial responsibility (Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations 2001). However, this responsibility goes to a certain extent for the level of autonomy and the ability to raise revenue are two important factors (Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations 2001). With this form of decentralization, accountability is best promoted because of the fact that expenditure and revenue are closely watched over by the