Insights into Commune Council Leadership: Case of Decentralization Reform in Choueng Prey District, Cambodia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.jpas.2024.009.01.4Keywords:
Decentralization, Leadership, Local Development, Governance, DemocracyAbstract
Decentralization reform has been adopted by the Cambodian government since 2001, bringing the government and services closest to the people through the commune council, the lowest tier of subnational administration. The reform has contested local leadership to the premise of decentralization and local democracy based on good governance. To look into such a contest of a two-decade-long decentralization reform, this research aims to examine in-depth insights into the leadership capacity of the commune council in Cambodia upon the case of Choueng Prey district, Kampong Cham province. With the adoption of qualitative methodology along with score-based assessments, the results of this research uncovered the perspectives on local leadership. The results suggested that the current decentralization reforms need further reforms with stronger and more genuine political commitment of the government in return for local sustainable development and effective public service delivery. Evidentially, the leadership of the commune council has been identified to be relatively deficient due to the durable existence of a low education standard for the council candidates, the meagre structure of commune council management, and the privation of procedures for selecting and recruiting the council candidates. These are key focuses to results and discussion because they are believed to be fundamental drivers in shaping the quality of commune council leadership which is a cornerstone of this research.
References
Abdule, A. A., Muturi, W., & Samantar, M. S. (2018). Factors affecting Decentralization of Public Sector Services on Local Governance of Puntland: Case of Garowe District. International Journal of Contemporary Applied Researches, 5(2), 150-173. http://www.ijcar.net/assets/pdf/Vol5-No2-February2018/11.pdf
Adero, F. A., & Odiyo, W. O. (2020). Leadership theories and the desired competencies of the 21st century organization leader. International Journal of Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 2(3), 16-35. https://doi.org/10.35942/jbmed.v2i3.115
Babovic, M., and Vukovic, D. (2014). Social accountability in Cambodia. LSE JRSP Paper, 19. University of Belgrade. The Asia Foundation https://www.lse.ac.uk
Backhaus, J. P. (2020). Citizen Consciousness in Cambodia. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
Barma, N. (2016). The peacebuilding puzzle: political order in post-conflict states. Cambridge University Press.
Bauer, N. M. (2020). Running local: Gender stereotyping and female candidates in local elections. Urban Affairs Review, 56(1), 96-123.
Bebbington, A., Dharmawan, L., Fahmi, E., & Guggenheim, S. (2006). Local capacity, village governance, and the political economy of rural development in Indonesia. World development, 34(11), 1958-1976.
Binza, M. S. (2013). Developmental local government in the 21st century Implementing Local Economic Development as a new mandate. https://digitalknowledge.cput.ac.za/bitstream/11189/1218/1/Binza_Mzikayise%20S_Developmental%20local%20government%20in%20the%2021st%20century%20_.pdf
Boret, N., Gawande, K., & Kobb, D. P. (2021). Can decentralization lower poverty? Cambodia’s Commune and Sangkat Fund. World Development, 146, 105548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105548
Boysillo, S. L. (2017). Governance of the Barangay Chairpersons in the Municipality of Ubay Bohol. International Journal of Business and Management Studies, 9(1), 50-63. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijbms/issue/36086/405193
BTI. (2022). Cambodia Country Report 2022.
Buth, S. (2021 January 8). More than 900 civil servants picked for skills training. KhmerTimes. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50801677/more-than-900-civil-servants-picked-for-skills-training/
Calabrese, L., Borodyna, O., & Nadin, R. (2022). Risks along the Belt and Road: Chinese investment and infrastructure development in Cambodia. ODI. www.odi.org/en/publications/risks-along-the-belt-and-road-chinese-investment-and- infrastructure-development-in-cambodia/
Carrasco, B., Rahemtulla, H. A., & Rohdewohld, R. (2023). Decentralization, Local Governance, and Localizing the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific (p. 407). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003282297
Cashore, B., & Nathan, I. (2020). Can finance and market driven (FMD) interventions make “weak states” stronger? Lessons from the good governance norm complex in Cambodia. Ecological Economics, 177, 106689. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106689
CDRI, 2021. C AMBODIA DEVELOPMENT REVIEW - EmErging ChallEngEs of Cambodia’s loCal govErnmEnt:, Cambodia Development Resource Institute. Cambodia. Retrieved from https://policycommons.net/artifacts/2292012/c-ambodia-development-review/3052228/
Chakunda, V. (2015). Local government capacity building and development: Lessons, challenges and opportunities. DOI:10.4172/2332-0761.1000149
Chen, T., Guo, W., Gao, X., and Liang, Z. (2021). AI-based self-service technology in public service delivery: User experience and influencing factors. Government Information Quarterly, 38(4), 101520. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2020.101520
De Lannoy, A. (2022). The IMF and Capacity Development—Training. IEO Background Paper No. BP/22-02/09 (Washington: International Monetary Fund).
Eng, N. (2016). Decentralization in Cambodia: New wine in old bottles. Public Administration and Development, 36(4), 250-262. https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.1765
Funga, E. B. (2016). An investigation into the conflicts emanating from the up-scaling of minimum educational requirement for political leaders on the management of Lusaka City Council (Doctoral dissertation, University of Zambia). http://dspace.unza.zm/handle/123456789/4974
Hart, P. (2011). Evaluating public leadership: Towards an assessment framework. Public Money & Management, 31(5), 323-330.3 families of core criteria for public leadership assessment (impact, support, trustworthiness) https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2011.598338
Heng, K., & Sol, K. (2022). Education: Key to making Cambodia great again. Cambodia Development Center, 4(3), 1-18. https://kimkongheng.wordpress.com/2022/08/04/education-key-to-making-cambodia-great-again/
Horner, M. (1997). Leadership theory: past, present and future. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 3(4), 270-287. https://doi.org/10.1108/13527599710195402
Jachi, M., & Yona, L. (2019). The impact of professional competence and staffing of internal audit function on transparency and accountability. Case of Zimbabwe local authorities. Research Journal of Finance and Accounting, 10(8), 149-164. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA https://rb.gy/aq2mj
Jonga, M. (2019). Human resource capacity and the demands of decentralization process in the Gambia. POLITICO, 19(1), 23-33.
Khoun, T. (2018). Fiscal decentralisation and good governance: convergence or divergence? The experience of commune councils in Cambodia. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 40(2), 115-131. https://doi.org/10.1080/23276665.2018.1486507
Lidström, A., Baldersheim, H., Copus, C., Hlynsdóttir, E. M., Kettunen, P., & Klimovský, D. (2016). Reforming local councils and the role of councilors: A comparative analysis of fifteen European countries. Local public sector reforms in times of crisis: National trajectories and international comparisons, 287-300. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-52548-2_16
Lundy, V. A. Y., & Xinhai, L. U. (2020). Good Governance: Enhancing and Poverty Reduction in Cambodia. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/327151983.pdf
Mau, T. A. (2019). Enhancing leadership capacity in the public sector: branding as an employer of choice. International Journal of Public Leadership, 15(3), 155-169.
Meadowcroft, J. (2001). Political recruitment and local representation: the case of liberal democrat councilors. Local Government Studies, 27(1), 19-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/714004092
Minowa, Y., & Belk, R. W. (2020). Qualitative approaches to life course research: Linking life story to gift giving. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 30(1), 60-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2019.1613905
Morgenbesser, L. (2017). The failure of democratisation by elections in Cambodia. Contemporary Politics, 23(2), 135-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569775.2016.1230317
Morse, R. S., Buss, T. F., & Kinghorn, C. M. (Eds.). (2007). Transforming public leadership for the 21st century. ME Sharpe.
Nhim, T., & Mcloughlin, C. (2022). Local leadership development and WASH system strengthening: insights from Cambodia. H2Open Journal, 5(3), 469-489. https://doi.org/10.2166/h2oj.2022.129
Nurcholis, C., Sakti, S. W. K., and Rachman, A. S. (2019). Village administration in Indonesia: a socio-political corporation formed by state. Open Journal of Political Science, 9(2), 383-404. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojps.2019.92021
Ogisu, T., & Williams, J. H. (2016). The backstory of education in Cambodia. In The political economy of schooling in Cambodia: Issues of quality and equity (pp. 15-34). New York: Palgrave Macmillan US. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137456007_2
Ohman, A. (2005). Qualitative methodology for rehabilitation research. Journal of rehabilitation medicine, 37(5), 273-280. DOI: 10.1080/16501970510040056
Patton, M. Q. (2005). Qualitative research. Encyclopedia of statistics in behavioral science. https://doi.org/10.1002/0470013192.bsa514
Right, L. (2023). The Democratic Returns of Pluralism in Autocracy: Opposition Representation and Local Development in Cambodia's Commune Councils.
Riza, M. F., Nimran, U., Al Musadieq, M., & Utami, H. N. (2020). The Effect of Innovative Leadership and Creative Leadership to Organizational Learning, Organizational Adaptation and Adaptive Performance. JPAS (Journal of Public Administration Studies), 5(2), 51-55. https://doi.org/10.21776/ub.jpas.2020.005.02.2
Rockman, B. A. (1984). Legislative-executive relations and legislative oversight. Legislative Studies Quarterly, 387-440. https://www.jstor.org/stable/439490
Seakkeav, C. (2015). Woodrow Wilson’s Theory’s Implications in a Cambodian Context: A Review of “The Study of Administration”. International Journal of Public and Private Management, 2(1), 43-68. https://ojs.lib.buu.ac.th/index.php/InterJPPM/article/view/4312/1547
Sheith, K. (2020). Upgrading Cambodia’s public service. TheAseanPost.com. https://theaseanpost.com/article/upgrading-cambodias-public-service
Shen, K. (2022, December). Rethinking Weberian Bureaucracy A Case Study of the Decentralization and Deconcentration Reform in Cambodia. In 2022 6th International Seminar on Education, Management and Social Sciences (ISEMSS 2022) (pp. 2697-2710). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-31-2_316
Smoke, P., & Morrison, J. (2011). Decentralization in Cambodia: Consolidating Central Power or Building Accountability from Below?. Chapters. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781000878.00015
Stromquist, N. P. (2019). World Development Report 2019: The changing nature of work: By the World Bank. Washington, DC, World Bank, 2019, 151 pp. ISBN 978-1-4648-1342-9 (hbk). ISBN 978-1-4648-1328-3 (pbk), ISBN 978-1-4648-1356-6 (eBook),
The ASEAN Secretariat. (2021). Assessment Report on Public Service Delivery Systems in ASEAN Member States.
THE ESSENCE OF LEADERSHIP. (2015). A position paper on leadership and its implications on leadership development. https://www.coursehero.com/file/17118272/Essence-of-Leadership/
Tin, S. (2021 August 27). National School of Local Administration launched. KhmerTimes. https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50924053/national-school-of-local-administration-launched/
Tongco, M. D. C. (2007). Purposive sampling as a tool for informant selection. Ethnobotany Research and applications, 5, 147-158. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/227
Tummers, L., & Knies, E. (2016). Measuring public leadership: Developing scales for four key public leadership roles. Public Administration, 94(2), 433-451. https://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12224
United Nations (UN). (2022). Training of Trainers Workshop on Effective National to Local Public Governance for SDG Implementation in Cambodia. Outcome Report.
World Bank Group. (2018). Cambodia's Cross-Cutting Reforms: Public Financial Management, Decentralization, and Public Administration Reforms-Achievements, Coordination, Challenges, and Next Steps. World Bank.
Yasak, L. Y. (2016). Research Note on Decentralization and De-concentration Reforms in Cambodia. 国際開発研究フォーラム, 47(n1), 1-15.
Yavaprabhas, S. (2018). Leadership and public sector reform in Thailand. In Leadership and public sector reform in Asia. Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2053-769720180000030005
Young, S. (2021). Strategies of authoritarian survival and dissensus in Southeast Asia: Weak Men versus Strongmen. Springer Nature.
Yuan, M., & Schraufnagel, S. (2020). Two-dimensional legislative conflict: unique implications for the effectiveness of local councils. Local government studies, 46(5), 780-799. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2019.1667773
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Kosal Han, Yen Yat
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Statement
Authors who publish with JPAS agree to the following terms:
(1). Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
(2). Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
(3). Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Permissions and reuse
For authors
Authors may use their own articles for the following non-commercial purposes without asking our permission (and subject only to acknowledging first publication in JPAS and giving a full reference or web link, as appropriate).
(1). Posting a pdf of their own article on their own personal or institutional website, for which no charge for access is made.
(2). Making a reasonable number of copies for personal or non commercial professional use.
This includes the contributors own teaching purposes.
(1). Republishing part or all of the article in a book or other publication edited by the author (except for multiple contributions in the same book or publication, for which permission needs to be sought.
(2). Using individual figures or tables or extracts of text (up to 300 words) in other publications published by a third party.
(3). Using the article in a course pack or compilation (whether paper or electronic) in the authors institution. This does not apply if a commercial charge is made for the compilation or training programme.
For third parties
All articles published by JPAS are published by default as open access.
