Draft Proposal of CDRI Research Programme on

1. Draft Proposal of CDRI Research Programme on Democratic Governance and Public Sector Reform 2007-2010

2. Rationales for a New Programme • CDRI Strategic Plan 2006-2010 • PORDEC Achievements • Democratic Governance & Public Sector Reform 3-5 years extended on PORDEC Work • The Research Team

3. Objectives of Today Discussion • To share CDRI Research Proposal on Democratic Governance and Public Sector Reform for 2007-2010 • To solicit feedback on the proposed research framework, capacity building and policy outreach strategy

4. Democratic Governance in Cambodia after 15 years • Institutional Reforms • Centralised and decentralised programmes • New Public Management run into local institution realities • Increasing institutionalisation of patronage = neo-patrimonialim • Democratic Transition • Institutionalisation of election • Responsiveness of State and assertiveness of society

5. Democratic Governance in Cambodia after 15 years (Cont) • The outcomes: “State is poorly integrated and detached from society” • This is the condition known as “hybridity”

6. Hybridity and the International Literature • What is hybridity? • Why is it useful? • Because it recognises: • Formal and informal systems • Rational liberal and cultural specific practices • Democratic and non-democratic processes • Political and technical issues • And it explains the mutually entanglement of the two

7. A New Research Agenda • NOT what succeeds and what fails • BUT what works, and • What types of actors can make such a system work? • What types of actors are excluded from the system?

8. Three Sub-Themes of the Framework • Institutional Development (D&D) • Organic Law • D&D Implementation • Capacity to generate outcomes in terms of: • State as a rule-enforcer • State as a resource distributor • State as a guardian of public goods

9. Three Sub-Themes of the Framework (Cont) • State-society relations and intermediaries • What is filling the state-society gaps (NGOs, Kse, political parties, private sectors)? • Who are the winners and losers of these arrangements?

10. Three Sub-Themes of the Framework (Cont) • Civic Engagement • Why cannot the Cambodian public demand better service? • Is the problem structural or cultural?

11. Research Objectives • To better understand how institutional reform processes affect and/or relate to democratic development through the analysis existing and on-going findings on of development of formal institutions together with new work on informal organisations, political culture, and structural/demographic change in Cambodia;

12. Research Objectives (Cont) • To build capacity of the emerging generation of Cambodian public administration and political science specialists and researchers; • To produce a dynamic model of Cambodian governance and policy making that captures the importance of informal, invisible and intangible variables;

13. Research Objectives (Cont) • To use this model to develop and disseminate policy-relevant findings concerning governance issues that are crucial to the deepening of democracy in Cambodia.

14. Specific Studies1. Institutional Development • Organic Law Analysis • Implementing the D&D reforms: Process, Issues, Accountabilities, and New Roles for the Province and District • Political Economy of Sectoral D&D

15. Specific Studies1. Institutional Development • Supporting the public good and the investment environment through building regulatory and horizontal coordination capacity at sub-national level • Fiscal Decentralisation, Public Financial Management and Neo-Patrimonialism • Neo-Patrimonialism From Below: A Study Of Cambodian Grassroots Political Culture

16. Specific Studies2. State-Society Relations and Intermediaries • Consequences of the Electoral System: The Concept of Opposition in Cambodian Political Culture • Responsiveness in Democratic Governance

17. Specific Studies2. State-Society Relations and Intermediaries • Structural Change and the Cambodian ’Bourgeoisie’ (How will local elites be invited in the building of a local democratic state • Enhanced mechanisms of participation to deepen democratic development in Cambodia

18. Specific Studies3. Civic Engagement • Images of Cambodian Citizenship (self-images among neglected sub-groups such as youth, women, ethnic groups, and local economic elites etc.) • A Cambodian Social Contract?

19. Specific Studies3. Civic Engagement • Leadership and Local Representation (Why do councillors and others engage in local politics? Who are the leaders? )

20. Specific Studies for 4. Cross-Cutting Themes • To what extent are the process of decentralisation and deconcentration gendered? • Community forestry management and local governance

21. Specific Studies for 4. Cross-Cutting Themes • Impact and interaction between trade reform and public finance reform • Governing water resource management in the irrigation sector

22. Design of the Programme Year 1 Year 2 Year 3___Year 4 • ID WP1-1 WP1-2 • S-S WP2-1 WP2-2 • Civic Engt WP3-1 WP-3-2 • Cross-cutting Studies ----------------------------- Monograph

23. Design of the Programme (con’t) • Five researchers focus on six studies over the first three years of the proposed program, collectively producing 6 Working Papers (WPs) in 3-4 years time (as well as work on cross-cutting studies).

24. Design of the Programme (con’t) • All WPs are expected feed into (chapters) of a joint edited volume for a Monograph. • Each WP serves as the base from which study findings can be expanded into other publication formats, such as short policy briefs, ADR articles, conference papers, or journal publications.

25. Operationalising the Research • Main objective is for researchers to own the research agenda and process. Internal and external TAs support researchers as needed. • Researchers conceptualize and drive research questions

26. Operationalising the Research (Cont) • Researchers formulate fieldwork techniques, analyze data, disseminate findings, recommend policy interventions

27. Operationalising the Research (Cont) • Issues, not theories drive the research • In-house peer review followed by external TA review • Lead authorship and writing responsibility

28. Capacity Building • Research Advisory Team (RAT) (4-5 professors) to support each WP • Conceptualising, analysing, and editing especially of the monograph • Co-author with RAT for international publications

29. Capacity Building (Cont) • Mini-courses, international conferences and workshops, several master +++ courses • 1 Master and 1 PhD included in the budget

30. Capacity Building (Cont) • Only 50% of the team’s time committed to allow space for unplanned commission studies • Spend more time on reading, mentoring, and group discussions • Peer review, ethical review of research • Research manuals

31. Policy Outreach • Our primary audience: Cambodian policy makers • Provide more timely, accessible and diversified research products (I.e. length, content, style, more prohok, less cheese) for our audience, especially Cambodian.

32. Policy Outreach (Cont) • Reflect RGC’s reform priorities • Enhance policy dialogues between Cambodian government with civil society and donors • Short, action-oriented policy briefs

33. Thank You Discussion Session