Good Governance Journal

JOURNAL REVIEW

TITLE:

Citizen Attitudes Toward the Concept of Good Governance: A Survey of the North and Northeast Regions of Thailand

AUTHOR:

Suchitra Punyaratabandhu

PUBLISHER:

NIDA Development Journal Vol. 48 No. 2/2008

1. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM/QUESTION:

Governance reforms in Thailand, taking place in the context of external donor institution requirements especially after the financial crisis of 1997, have been supply side, by and large. Scant attention has been paid to the demand side. What kind of governance do Thai citizens expect or wish to see? Quite as importantly, what are their values and attitudes toward good governance? Are those values and attitudes conducive to, and supportive of, the exercise of good governance? In seeking answers to the questions, attention is drawn to the demand side of governance.

2.  THE AIM

This research investigates citizen attitudes toward good governance and correlates of those attitudes.

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

Good governance is a multidimensional construct. It has been defined differently by different agencies. Some definitions identify four dimensions of governance, others six, yet others eight (http://www.worldbank.org, http://www.adb.org, http://www.escap.org). Good governance has been defined as consisting of all or some combination of the following dimensions: accountability, transparency, participation/ voice, rule of law/predictability, regulatory quality, political stability, responsiveness, consensus orientation, equity and inclusiveness. Elimination of corruption and its variants (e.g. “efficiency”) are sometimes treated as a separate dimension, although corruption is generally subsumed under rule of law. The dimensions complement each other, and there is overlap among them: mutually reinforcing, they are also conceptually intertwined.

4. METHODOLOGY

The data set consists of a sample of 4,785 respondents surveyed in eight provinces in the north and northeastern regions of Thailand in late 2005 - early 2006. The sample was divided into three strata based on degree of urbanization, with municipal towns and cities representing the highest degree of urbanization, tambon municipalities representing a lesser degree of urbanization, and rural villages outside municipal areas representing the least degree of urbanization. Each stratum consisted of the following number of respondents: 840 respondents in town municipalities in the north and 840 respondents in the northeast; 585 respondents in semi-urban tambon municipalities in the north and 600 respondents in the northeast; 960 respondents in rural villages in the north and 960 respondents in the northeast. A multistage stratified sampling design was used. The National Statistical Office of Thailand provided generous assistance in drawing the sample and supplying the area maps.

The data collection instrument was a questionnaire consisting of some 70 items. In addition to demographic and socio-economic questions, the first part of the questionnaire also contained items related to access to information and public officials and offices, and levels of satisfaction with public service provision. The second part of the questionnaire was designed to elicit attitudes toward the dimensions of governance, as well as respondent opinions on desired characteristics of government and governance.

5. ANALYSIS

Table 1 presents characteristics of the sample, by region. The proportion of women is somewhat greater than men (53.9 percent and 46.1 percent, respectively). The proportions do not differ significantly between the north and northeast regions.

Respondents in the north region read newspapers more frequently than respondents in the northeast (Table 2).

Table 3 reports the means and standard deviations of the composite good governance scale and the four sub-scales - accountability, participation, rule of law, and transparency.

Table 4 Partial correlations between each variable and good governance, holding remaining variables constant.

For respondents in the northeast region, weak but statistically significant partial correlations are obtained for degree of urbanization, age, and educational attainment (partial r = 0.123, -0.056, 0.043, respectively). The signs on the coefficients are in the hypothesized direction. Degree of urbanization and education are positively related to attitudes supportive of good governance, whereas the association with age is negative. Name recognition of public figures is weakly associated with attitudes supportive of good governance (partial r = 0.063). Interestingly, a somewhat stronger relationship exists between knowing citizens’ rights and good governance attitudes (partial r = 0.188). Finally, weak but statistically significant partial correlations are obtained for satisfaction with the government’s ability to solve problems and trust in public officials. The signs on the coefficients are in the hypothesized direction (partial r = -0.042 and -0.091, respectively). The less the satisfaction with the government’s ability to solve problems and the less trust in public officials, the greater the support for the concept of good governance.

Analysis of the data for the northern sample shows weak but statistically significant partial correlations for age and educational attainment (partial r = -0.044 and 0.073, respectively). Age has a negative, and education a positive, association with attitudes supportive of good governance. Similar to the northeast, in the north region a stronger relationship exists between knowing citizens’ rights and good governance attitudes (partial r = 0.206). Lastly, weak but statistically significant partial correlations are obtained for satisfaction with the government’s ability to solve problems and trust in public officials. The signs on the coefficients are in the hypothesized direction (partial r = -0.102 and -0.079, respectively). The less the satisfaction with the government’s ability to solve problems and the less trust in public officials, the greater the support for the concept of good governance.

6. INTERPRETATION OF RESEARCH

The attitudinal data from the survey indicate that, despite the presence of traditional culture with its emphasis on hierarchical relationships and patron-client linkages, citizens in the north and northeast regions of Thailand are receptive to the notion of good governance. In terms of relative support for the four dimensions of governance, most support was expressed for accountability, followed by transparency, rule of law, and participation.

7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

This paper set out to investigate citizen attitudes toward good governance and correlates of those attitudes for a sample of 4,785 respondents living in the north and northeastern regions of Thailand. A composite scale was constructed to measure attitudes toward four dimensions of good governance: accountability, participation, rule of law, and transparency. Hypothesized correlates of attitudes supportive of good governance included demographic and socio-economic factors; information about government and knowledge of citizens’ rights; satisfaction with the government’s ability to solve problems; and trust in public officials

Successful implementation of governance reforms requires mutually supportive and cooperative relationships among stakeholders. If the demand side for good governance is weak, it hardly augurs well for the success of implementation.

8. FUTURE RESEARCH

The primary action recommendation emerging from this study is that interventions designed to foster attitudes supportive of good governance should focus on dissemination of information to the public, in particular information about citizens’ rights under Thai law and those guaranteed by the Thai Constitution.

The dissemination of information should be differentiated. Stakeholders have different levels of receptivity. The most receptive groups are the young and the educated, living in towns and cities. The least receptive are older and less educated persons, living in rural villages. The form and content of information should be designed to serve the needs of each target group.

9. CRITIQUE JOURNAL

The initial thesis that the traditional Thai culture based on hierarchical relationships and patron-client ties would perhaps serve to undermine citizens’ support for good governance concepts was not substantiated by the data. Respondents both in the north and northeastern regions expressed attitudes supportive of good governance. In terms of relative support for the four dimensions of governance, most support was expressed for accountability, followed by transparency, rule of law, and participation. Citizens living in the poorer and less developed northeast region are less supportive of good governance than citizens living in the more affluent north. For those living in poverty, daily subsistence requirements assume priority over governance concerns. The inference could be drawn that it is necessary to achieve a minimum threshold of economic well-being before attention is given to good governance.

With respect to correlates of attitudes supportive of good governance, analysis using partial correlations revealed weak but statistically significant relationships between governance attitudes and age, education, knowing citizens’ rights, satisfaction with the government’s ability to solve problems of health, education, and poverty, and trust in public officials. The signs on the coefficients were consistent with the research hypotheses. Educational attainment and knowledge about citizens’ rights were positively associated with good governance attitudes; satisfaction with the government’s ability to solve problems and trust in public officials were negatively associated with good governance attitudes. For the northeast region, but not for the north, two additional variables were found to be related to good governance attitudes: a positive association was obtained for degree of urbanization and name recognition of public figures. This was consistent with the research hypotheses.