224. GENERALIZING FROM STUDIES OF LOCAL POLITICS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
224.
Panel Title : GENERALIZING FROM STUDIES OF LOCAL POLITICS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Chair : Patricio N. Abinales
Convener : Akiko Morishita
Discussant : Khoo Boo Teik
Panel Abstract :
There is a growing trend toward the study of local politics among East and Southeast Asian scholars. In the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, studies of provincial and regional elites have become more prominent especially after the end of authoritarian rule when access to information became relatively easier, and as dictatorships and military rule gave way to election-based, locally-driven "democratic" politics. Countries whose politics are supposedly stable and humdrum because of the lengthy rule of dominant parties have also drawn the attention of scholars who discover more dynamic, even tension-ridden politician engagements at the state or provincial levels. However, there have been few attempts to make generalizations, even if tentative, on local politics in Southeast Asia. How does a study of local politics contribute to an overall study of politics in the region? Patterns of local politics, including competition over local political interests; formal and informal relationships between local and national power holders; ways of accessing and allocating local economic interests; and interactions between local power holders and people living in the region, are likely to have been formed in relation to not only local socio-economic and political conditions but various political institutions determining how the state controls people and resources. Studies of local politics can highlight some of the characteristics of the state that may not be obvious in studies of national politics in the region. Furthermore, are there any changes in the patterns of local politics after the recent significant shift in the national politics or the national political leadership of Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand? Do these changes reflect the reorganization of political and economic networks in national politics and, if so, change in or beneath the surface of the state regime of those countries? Or, how have the local political power holders retained their power base if there are hardly any changes in local politics after the shift in national politics? Can one discern patterns in these various local experiences that explain not just differences but also comparability across countries? This panel aims to take a small step in this direction by generalizing from studies of local politics. It consists of scholars who work on local politics in the Southeast Asian states of the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The members of the panel either live and work in the region or if they do not, their training-especially in language-has allowed them to be intimately involved with their areas of studies. Each speaker will give share his/her perspectives of the local politics of their respective countries, and engage the other panelists as well as the audience in a collective discussion aimed at teasing out the comparability as well as differences of the case studies and the theoretical implications of their generalizability.
Participants :
Viengrat Nethipo
Paper Title : A Decade of Structural Change in Thai Local Politics: 1997-2007
Abstract :
Since the local administrative governments were democratized in late 1970s, local politics in Thailand has become an arena of competition among networks of influential elites (bosses, godfathers, and business elites) in pursuit of their own interests and to nurture their networks. Local government posts became instrument of elite rule, reinforcing the already-existing informal power they wield over the communities they lord over. Elites had no problem capturing these positions because the state remained inefficient and the central bureaucracy was corrupted. In the last decade, however, there were two significant changes that reshaped the structure of local politics. First, the decentralization process enacted under the 1997 constitution was implemented and local administrative governments at all levels were granted more autonomy. Tambon Administrative Organizations were also established to govern rural-based areas all over the country. Second, the Thaksin regime (2001-2006) introduced a new kind of politics based on a strong central government under the control of the Thai Rak Thai party. In the process it weakened existing power configurations all over the country, both formal and informal. This new politics would inevitably extend its reach into the local political arena. This paper explores how these changes affected local politics, in particular how the influential networks stood up to the challenge posed by a strong central government and the newly established rural-based local governments dominated by smaller local elites. It is also examines how a new electoral campaign, that is more party oriented, affected the conduct of elections and the configurations of the political arena.This study concludes that local government became more autonomous and stronger in term of decision making, personal and financial administration but the local politics is remained under the control of local influential networks. This was because Thai Rak Thai party strengthened its power by utilizing local networks without radically transforming them. After the fall of the Thaksin regime these local networks had become dominant powers once more. However if decentralization continues , these elites' power will become shake, as smaller local elites from the grass-root level rise to challenge the old guards.
Masaaki Okamoto
Paper Title : Local Politics of Informal Violence in the Democratized and Decentralized
Indonesia: Birth of Violent Oligarchies and Structural Change of Politics in
Java, 1998-2006
Abstract :
Violence or force is the key for political and economic power, whether it is a physical and visible one or a structural one. This axiom is not only true for an authoritarian regime, but also or maybe quite true for a democratic regime. One intriguing topic to analyze is the interrelationship between the conversio/disversion of violence and the regime change (authoritarian from/to democratic one). For example, as well known, the post-authoritarian Rusia saw the mushrooming of "violent enterperneurs" (Volkov 2002). In the case of Indonesia, the fall of Suharto also showed the same phenomena and we saw the rampant blooming of informal violent groups. Some of them are now wielding rather siginificant influence politicall and economically at the local level even though not yet at the central level. This paper will argue the historical and socio-economic background of their birth and growth and also will trace the way of their politics of how they have gained a certain point of political and economic apex. The focused area is the newly born province of Banten because this area is one of the most famous regions for the violent groups called Jawara. They skillfully won the direct governotorial election in 2006 with the "support" of the Bantenese majority. The democratization period is the triumphant era of Jawara?
Andrew Aeria
Paper Title : Patronage Politics And The Quality Of Development In Sarawak
Abstract :
It is well-known that companies, relatives, politicians and business clients closely associated with the governing political coalition in Sarawak have benefited greatly from patronage. This patronage system began during the New Economic Policy (NEP) era, 1970-1990; deepened under the National Development Policy (NDP) 1991-2000; and since 2001, has continued under the auspices of the National Vision Policy (NVP). Such patronage impacts upon Sarawak's political and social development. Highly lucrative systems of patronage contribute to reinforcing tight political control and perverts existing democratic and electoral institutions. Patronage under the auspices of the NEP, NDP and NVP provides the necessary largesse that keeps clients and potential political opponents well in line since to run afoul of political patrons is to court financial trouble or economic ruin. Equally important, patronage oils support for political power holders. A direct consequence of patronage arising from Sarawak's system of public contracts is "money politics" or electoral patronage, its growing evidence most prevalent especially during electoral contests. Forms of patronage have however changed over the last four (4) decades. In the past, the most significant form of patronage was that of the timber concession. But as Sarawak's timber resource limitations became increasingly obvious, patronage has shifted to new areas, namely infrastructure, construction and manufacturing projects both privatized as well as publicly contracted. Such patronage ostensibly is aimed at meeting the objectives of the NEP, NDP and NVP. Looking at Sarawak's impressive development figures, patronage clearly has made an impact. But to what end its quality and sustainability? This paper thus aims to examine the newer forms of patronage in Sarawak and evaluate their differential developmental impacts. I suggest that while patronage does have benefits, it is equally important to ensure that patronage and its beneficiaries are carefully managed if an equitable and sustainable developmental agenda is to be met.
Akiko Morishita
Paper Title : A Comparative Study Of Local Politics In Indonesia And Malaysia: The Cases
From Kalimantan And Sarawak
Abstract :
The question of control over the local political and economic interests has become extremely important in Indonesia after the implementation of the decentralization policy and the devolution of the national government's powers. Under these new arrangements, persons or groups, who succeeded in accessing economic resources and/or controlled social organizations at local levels during the Soeharto's era, have emerged as powerful local political actors in the post-authoritarian period. The nature of this local political power depends on the social and economic conditions in the region. In the cases of West, Central and East Kalimantan provinces, with its bountiful forest and mineral resources such as coal and oil, two types of power holders have emerged: local timber businessmen and local government officers, who often work closely with each other to acquire and expand their control of these resources. Similar patterns of alliances between timber businessmen and party politicians have been observed in neighboring Sarawak, one of the east states of Malaysia. There, wealthy timber businessmen are deeply involved in local politics in a state ruled by autocratic State Chief Minister which had had a large degree of autonomy over the last 20 years. This paper is a comparative study of these political arrangements in Kalimantan and Sarawak. I will illustrate how local politicians and businessmen accessed, allocated and shared timber-related interests and how businessmen gained formal and/or informal protection for their businesses. This comparison also highlights the effectiveness as well as limitations of state control over local political and economic interests. There are principally two differences and two similarities in the organization of local power in Kalimantan and Sarawak. The two major differences are: the origins and manner of growth of local timber businessmen; and the political actors with whom these businessmen have had "intimate" relations. These differences, in turn, are related to the distinct nature of Indonesian and Malaysian political institutions, particularly in regard to the degree in which the central and local governments regard forest resource concessions and the degree of involvement by bureaucrats and party politicians, as well as military (in the case of Indonesia) in the decision-making process at both the national and local levels. The two major common political characteristics in Kalimantan and Sarawak are the extent of influence and participation by timber businessmen in national and local parliamentary politics, mainly through membership in the government party; and the relationship of the all-powerful Governor in East Kalimantan and State Chief Minister in Sarawak to these business interests. The paper concludes with a brief mention of how local politics have changed and persisted in Kalimantan after the implementation of direct elections of national and local government heads, as well as in Sarawak after the recent shift in the national political leadership of Malaysia.
