Vol. 34 Nos. 3-4 (July-December 2013)
Governance (Policy Issues)...
(From page 40)
budget for development. Citing data on gender-related
economic and social vulnerabilities in Indonesia,
Dr. Widaningrum pointed out that most women in
Indonesia suffer from poverty, poor access to credit,
low wage rates, low employment opportunities,
and lack of active participation in the community
and labor sector. Women also bear the burden of
maternal mortality and malnutrition, with progress in
the aforementioned areas being generally slow. Dr.
Widaningrum asserted that these problems need to be
quickly addressed. Drawing from the role of budget
policy in addressing socio-economic problems, Dr.
Widaningrum argued that gender budgeting may
help empower both men and women as partners
and beneficiaries of development. She said that the
gender-specific budget does not provide for a separate
allocation for women; rather it promotes a genderequitable budget where both men and women reap
the benefits of development. Government institutions,
non-government organizations, civil society, and
other concerned stakeholders, should be committed to
contributing to a gender-specific budget.
Searching for a New Mode of Civic Governance in
the Post-NPM Era
In his presentation
on new public
management, Dr.
Osamu Koike
explored the prospects
of using the civic
governance model
to improve public
service delivery after
the emergence of new
public management in Japan. He posited that while
market-oriented new public management scheme can
improve citizen satisfaction in terms of the quality
of public service delivery, it may adversely affect
the performance of local government institutions. He
said that a new form of governance should be able to
address the needs of local governments, particularly in
the field of environmental conservation. In his study,
EROPA Bulletin
41
Dr. Koike looked into the case of the rural landscape
or “satoyama” conservation program in Kanagawa
to determine the feasibility of civic governance as
either a complement or supplement to market-based,
post-NPM governance. Dr. Koike described the
arrangements and collaboration between farmers,
prefectural governments, action groups and other
stakeholders, working together for the conservation
of the satoyama landscapes. Gauging from the results
of the evaluation study conducted on 14 satoyama
conversation areas, Dr. Koike argued that communitybased environmental conservation is still a relevant
form of governance even in the market-based public
management area. He recommended that communityresponsive policy measures should be formulated for
conservation of the landscapes.
Public-Private Partnerships and Governance
Challenges in Thai Municipalities: Perspectives of
Chief Administrators (palat thesaban)
Dr. Ploy Suebvises’
presentation talked
about the publicprivate partnership
(PPP) in Thailand
as a new public
management approach
to improve service
delivery. She drew the
perspective of local
administration in policy design and implementation
of PPP in the country. PPP in Thailand has undergone
many types of reforms since early 1990s in view of the
shifting role of the government and transferring of its
service provision function to the private sector. Over
the years, there has been an increasing involvement
of the private sector in the provision of utilities such
as energy, telecommunications, and water, among
others, not only to improve efficiency but also to
share the risks and improve collaboration with the
private sector. Recent developments in Thailand look
at opportunities for incre