Reining in Provincial Fiscal ‘Owners’: Decentralization in Lao PDR

Gomez-Reino, Juan Luiz; Martínez-Vázquez, Jorge; Sepúlveda, Cristián

doi:10.4337/9781781000878.00011

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, provincial administration is directly under the supervision of the central government in accordance with the principle of democratic centralism, which formally de nes the governance structure of communistparty-led countries (12,13). In real life, there is a power play between the national and provincial governments that relies on a complex basis of power that only partially re ects the sharing of power de ned in the constitution (12,40). However, it is important to note that the Communist Party of Lao PDR has the leadership of the political system at all levels of government (41,42).…”

Section: Civil Society Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fight against malnutrition in a single-party decentralized country: the case of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR)

Viphonephom,

Kounnavong,

Reinharz

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Lao PDR, a low-middle income country, has a higher malnutrition rate than other Southeast Asian countries. Decentralization of healthcare is a well-known determinant of the effectiveness of programs to reduce malnutrition, but no study has focused on this factor in Lao PDR. Methods A qualitative study was conducted based on a neo-institutional theory conceptual framework. Twenty-four semistructured interviews were performed with actors from different government levels, external donors and civil society. The information obtained from the interviews was supplemented with an analysis of relevant documents. Data were analyzed using NVivo 11 software. The validity of the results was ensured through credibility, transferability, reliability and confirmability. Results The services in charge of combating malnutrition in Lao PDR remain largely centralized, despite factors specific to the country that are leading it to promote a certain decentralization of its services. The coherence between the observed structure and the interpretative schemes of the actors concerned, at all levels of governance, ensures the stability of this state of centralization, which has persisted for almost 50 years. However, the socioeconomic changes that the country is undergoing suggest that the centralized structure will become more decentralized in the near future. Conclusion The centralization of public programs such as the fight against malnutrition is expected in countries whose system is based on the concept of democratic centralism and that lack expert resources capable of working regionally. However, the institutional environment in which Lao health services are offered is changing. Socioeconomic changes are expected to increase the capacity of public health professionals at regional levels to take more responsibilities in the near future. As a result, the health care structure underlying public health programs such as nutrition programs may become less centralized.

show abstract

Section: Civil Society Associationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fight against malnutrition in a single-party decentralized country: the case of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR)

Viphonephom,

Kounnavong,

Reinharz

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With this, the authority and power of the party and state was also strengthened. Yet, fiscal and administrative tensions between local, provincial and central authorities, a perennial area of contention, remain a key issue (Gomez, Martinez-Vazquez, and Sepulveda 2008;Lestrelin, Castella, and Bourgoin 2012;Yamada 2018).…”

Section: Territory and Environmental Statecraftmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptualising Party-State Governance and Rule in Laos

Creak

Barney

2018

Journal of Contemporary Asia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article develops a framework for conceptualising authoritarian governance and rule in the Lao People's Democratic Republic. After introducing the national and academic context, which go a significant way towards understanding the paucity of comparative political work on Laos, we propose an approach to studying postsocialist authoritarian and single-party rule that highlights the key political-institutional, cultural-historical and spatial-environmental sources of party-state power and authority. In adopting this approach, we seek to redirect attention to the centralising structures of rule under the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, illustrating how authoritarian institutions of the "party-state" operate in and through multiple scales, from the central to the local level. At a time when the country is garnering greater attention than at any time since the Vietnam War, we argue that this examination of critical transitions in Laos under conditions of resource-intensive development, intensifying regional and global integration, and durable one-party authoritarian rule, establishes a framework for future research on the party-state system in Laos, and for understanding and contextualising the Lao People's Revolutionary Party regime in regional comparative perspective.

show abstract

Reining in Provincial Fiscal ‘Owners’: Decentralization in Lao PDR

Cited by 2 publications

References 4 publications

The fight against malnutrition in a single-party decentralized country: the case of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR)

The fight against malnutrition in a single-party decentralized country: the case of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR)

Conceptualising Party-State Governance and Rule in Laos

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About