Spoils System Research Articles

THE POLITICAL INTERVENTION ON GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS’ PROMOTION IN INDONESIA

The promotion government officials comes into new era, the new policy reversed from a very closed selection process and heavily seniority-based to open, clear criteria, transparent procedures on the competency-based series test. In fact, policy implementation is not fully in favour of an administration driven. The study has two main research problems “How open promotion for local government officers conducted?” and “How does political intervention work in the open promotion mechanism?”. This paper provides comprehensive mechanism-the hybrid administration-politics model on open promotion of local bureaucrats in Indonesia. The study used a qualitative approach and assited by Nvivo 12 to reveal the most frequent concept on open promotion practices based on interviews. The data obtained through interviews with informants which selected purposively, selection committee members, candidates, and local government officers. This paper affirms interesting features. The competency series tested by independent assessors reflects an administration mechanism through merit concept. However, the absolute political final decision-making process at the governor or Mayor’s hands reflects the individual-political interest. This system shows that the administration’s process at the local level links tightly to political deliberation. The key message is that open promotion in government agencies is neither a pure merit issue nor a spoils system for competence-heavy based, on the one hand, yet is always amenable to some political intervention. The merit principles are universal; however, the practices are contextual-specific. This study has an important value in describing how The politics play significant role on local administration system.

Parabureaucracy: The case of Mexico's “Servants of the Nation”

AbstractIn the context of limited state capacity and a politicized public administration, democratic backsliding tends to exploit preexisting deficiencies in the functioning of the public sector. Whereas staffing managerial positions with regime supporters is well‐documented, less attention has been paid to the structuring and staffing of street‐level bureaucracies under a spoils system. In this article, we use document analysis and in‐depth interviews to analyze the case of Mexico's “Servants of the Nation” —a group of more than 19,000 former party members and sympathizers hired by the government to perform street‐level tasks— as an example of “parabureaucracy”: an auxiliary street‐level organization designed to perform a wide variety of tasks directly related to the executive's political agenda. We argue that parabureaucracies are designed to sideline formal administrative command structures for the benefit of the government in power but may also serve as a means to bypass stifled and dysfunctional traditional bureaucracies.

Dilemmatic Position of State Civil Apparatus (ASN)

This article investigates the dilemma faced by the ASN in maintaining neutrality amidst political dynamics, particularly during regional head elections (Pilkada) in Indonesia. The study explores the ASN's susceptibility to being exploited for electoral purposes and evaluates how they maintain neutrality according to laws and regulations. Additionally, the article discusses the challenges ASN faces in adhering to the principle of neutrality and potential solutions to these problems. By examining data from the State Civil Apparatus Commission (KASN) and the Election Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) concerning violations of ASN neutrality, the study identifies factors that contribute to ASN involvement in local political contests and the resulting neutrality breaches. The study also underscores the worrisome situation concerning the integrity and neutrality of Indonesia's ASN in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities. The three identified phenomena—position buying and selling, instant career pursuit, and kinship culture or spoil system—indicate political intervention in bureaucracy, resulting in the appointment of incompetent individuals and reduced public service quality. The concerning situation regarding ASN's integrity and neutrality highlights the need for further efforts in implementing bureaucratic reform and strengthening the merit system in Indonesia.

Analisis Pelaksanaan Mutasi Aparatur Sipil Negara Eselon III Dan IV Lingkup Pemerintah Kabupaten Buton Utara

This study aims to analyze the implementation of echelon III and IV ASN mutations in the North Buton Regency Government. This study uses a qualitative approach, with an analysis focus on the implementation of echelon III and IV ASN mutations. There were 9 informants in this research, namely the Regional Secretary, Head of BKPSDM, Head of Mutation Division, 3 echelon III officials and 3 echelon IV officials. The selected informants were determined purposively. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and document studies. The data obtained were then analyzed interactively with an analytical model referring to Milles and Huberman (1992), covering data collection, data presentation, data reduction and drawing conclusions. The results showed that the implementation of the transfer of echelon III and IV employees within the scope of the North Buton Regency Government was still dominated by the spoil system. The mutations carried out are based on the principle of kinship and on the basis of likes and dislikes. These likes and dislikes are closely related to the behavior of employees who make political contributions to the implementation of democratic momentum in North Buton Regency. However, mutations based on considerations of the merid system and spoiled system are still the main considerations in the implementation of echelon III and IV ASN mutations in North Buton Regency.

Ottoman Archival Documents on the Shrines of Karbala, Najaf, and the Hejaz (1660s-1720s): Endowment Wars, the Spoils System, and Iranian Pilgrims

Abstract This study introduces and publishes an array of Ottoman archival documents on the shrines of Ahl al-Bayt imams in Iraq, the endowments dedicated to these shrines, and the Shiite-Iranian pilgrims visiting these sites as well as the Kaaba and the shrine of Muhammad in the Hejaz. Focusing on the later seventeenth and the early eighteenth centuries, it discusses the political-economic function of Islamic endowments, interconfessional contacts resulting from pilgrimage by Shiites in Sunni territory, and the potential use of Ottoman archives to enrich our knowledge on trans-Ottoman themes.

Jacksonian Consular Reform and the Forging of America’s First Global Bureaucracy

AbstractAs revolutions swept across Central and South America in the 1820s and 1830s, Andrew Jackson’s administration undertook a landmark reform that transformed the US foreign policy apparatus into the nation’s first global bureaucracy. With the introduction of Edward Livingston’s 1833 consular reform bill to Congress, the nation embarked on a long path toward the modernization of its consular service in line with the powers of Europe and the new American republics. Despite the popularity of Livingston’s plan to turn a dated US consular service comprised of mercantile elites into a salaried professional bureaucracy, the Jacksonian consular reform dragged on for more than two decades before the passing of a consular bill in 1856. Contrary to Weberian models positing a straightforward path toward bureaucratization, the trajectory of Jacksonian consular reform demonstrates the power of mercantile elites to resist central government regulation just as much as it highlights how petty partisans—the protégé consuls appointed via the Jacksonian “spoils system”—powerfully shaped government policy to achieve personal advantages. In the constant tug-of-war between merchant-consuls and Jacksonian protégés, both groups mobilized competing visions of the “national character” in their correspondence with the Department of State and in the national press. Ultimately, the Jacksonian reform vision of an egalitarian and loyal consular officialdom prevailed over the old mercantile model of consulship as a promoter of national prestige and commercial expertise, but only after protégé consuls successfully exploited merchant-consuls’ perceived inability to compete with the salaried European officials across the sister-republics of the southwestern hemisphere.

Political Power Interventionism in Bureaucrats’ Appointments under the Abe Government

For every government, controlling its bureaucracy is necessary to implement policies, and human resources management (HRM) is a crucial lever in order to enforce this control. Since the end of the Second World War, the Japanese bureaucracy has managed to keep a relatively strong independence toward politicians regarding HRM. But from the 1990’s onwards, several reforms reinforced politicians’ intervention power in high-rank bureaucrats’ appointments. Since the return of Abe Shinzō to power, this tendency seems to have accelerated. Observers frequently draw attention to the particular amount of nominations influenced by prime minister’s decisions, sometimes insinuating that the bureaucracy could become politicised and thusly see its principle of neutrality endangered. This paper aims at explaining to what extent these interventions constitute a new phenomenon or not. After reassessing the situation under the “55-year system”, it explores the factors that could explain the recent changes, and analyses their consequences on the bureaucracy. We consider that despite an obvious voluntarism from the Government and the creation in May 2014 of the Cabinet Bureau of Personnel Affairs, it would be overstated to speak of a revolution that could lead to a Japanese-style spoils system. In fact, we see that with some exceptions, these political interventions respect many of the old nominations habits, which suggests that senior civil servants’ appointments are still resulting from a negotiation between politicians and ministries, and that the legal framework is not the only variable to take into account. We argue indeed that the prime minister’s political stability determines to a great extent his room for manoeuvre regarding such interventions, and we think that his caution not to excessively antagonize bureaucrats is precisely what enabled him to break other HRM traditions.

MERIT SYSTEM POLICY IN IMPLEMENTING POSITION MOVEMENTS IN THE SIMEULUE DISTRICT GOVERNMENT OF ACEH PROVINCE

Merit System is the placement of someone with a high leadership position based on their competency. The government as the holder of power always makes new regulations or policies and also changes existing policies, to improve the quality of life of the people and the government institution itself. This article aims to analyze the merit system policy in the implementation of the government in Indonesia in implementing the principles of good governance and to see how the role of Baperjakat in making the mutation decision letter has caused problems between ASN and the Regent of Simeulue. The research method uses descriptive qualitative through literature review and research information. Sources of data obtained through journals, news, and documents. Data analysis techniques using Nvivo plus 12 analysis in the form of the crosstab. The results showed that the procedure for the policy of the position of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) issued by the Regent of Simeulue was not based on established rules. In the process of mutation, the basic foundation of its implementation is still to use the seniority system and the spoil system where this system is not well used in the mutation process. In this mutation, the application is not by the principles of good governance.

Spoils System Is Not Dead

The paper analyses the development of the merit system and its effectiveness in the administrations of the Western Balkan countries. First, the development of the merit concept is described; its origin and genesis, as well as the positive effects it has had mostly in Western democracies. However, the basic hypothesis presented in the paper is that in most Western Balkan countries, the spoils system still remains a reality, even though the law stipulates the merit system. This hypothesis is demonstrated through practical evidence, as well as by comparing the merit system in the Western Balkans with that of Western democracies, in both a formal and a practical sense. The paper also analyses the negative consequences of this situation, as well as the benefits that the citizens would have in a merit system. In addition, solutions are offered, i.e., a model of reform that would overcome the existing situation.

Presidential Nomination and the Birth of Executive Federalism

In 1968, the Democratic Party changed its method of nominating presidential candidates from the convention floor system to the primary system. In 1972, the Republican Party followed suit. In the interim, under the banner of “New Federalism,” President Nixon introduced the block grant system and federal revenue sharing programs by which the executive could more directly execute transfers to the states without congressional interference. This paper argues that this expansion of “presidential pork-barrel” constitutes a spoils system by which presidential candidates could more directly lobby state politicians for support in the new primary nominating system.

REKRUTMEN DAN PENGEMBANGAN PNS DALAM PERSPEKTIF GOOD GOVERNANCE DI KABUPATEN LOMBOK TENGAH

The purposes of this research are to describe; the condition of civil servants (PNS), the implementation of recruitment and development of civil servants, also problems and policy solutions for good governance practices in the recruitment and development of civil servants in Central Lombok. The result of research, there is surplus (excess) of the number of civil servants who have to occupy the position on Echelon III, those are 4,241 people and echelon II are 73 people. The implication is unhealthy competition to obtain structural positions, which then disturbs the health of bureaucratic organizations. Recruitment of civil servants is guided by Government Regulation (PP) No. 98 of 2000 which constructs six stages of work; planning, announcement, application, screening, appointment of CPNS up to appointment to be civil servant. The position of Regent as the officer of the regional staffing authority gives him authority in the appointment of echelon IV to Echelon II without any sides’ consideration. As the result, practices of civil servant development policy create three conditions; the growth of spoils system practices, the improper use of the work of Baperjakat, and ultimately the practices disturb the independence of Baperjakat work. Good governance practice in civil servant recruitment has practiced aspects of efficiency, transparency and equity, but it has not been seen in the development aspect. Based on the above conditions, this research offers policy solutions to local governments.

Rekam Jejak Kinerja Crew Sebagai Model Sistem Pendukung Keputusan Pengangkatan Leader

Competitive human resources are employees who can work productively and professionally to achieve the vision, mission and goals of the company. To get competitive human resources seen from the quality of the employee's performance. The quality of employee performance is recorded in the track record of employee performance that has an important role for the company in making decisions in improving the company's human resources. North Sumatra, in particular the city of Medan, many companies engaged in the family entertainment center, the results of observations that have been made to several companies engaged in this field, generally in terms of appointment of Leaders still use the seniority system and spoil system. The impact of the seniority system is not guaranteeing the competency of an employee and not necessarily being able to assume the position, the impact of the spoil system is promotion based on kinship, this system is not good because it is based on consideration of likes or dislikes. To overcome the above, we need a system of track record of crew performance as a model of decision support systems for the appointment of leaders by involving factors of merit system, seniority system and leadership. The decision support system model will use the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) methods. AHP is a method that will be used to make comparisons between criteria to get criteria weights while SAW is a method used to find the weighted sum of the results of the AHP method of rating performance on all alternatives of each attribute to provide recommendations for company leaders to make the selection of the crew and conduct the process of appointing a Leader.

Forms of Bribe in Classical Literature of the Joseon Dynasty

본고는 조선후기 고전문학 작품에서 드러난 뇌물의 형상을 알아보고자 하였다. 이 시기 뇌물은 어떻게 정의될 수 있으며, 관료들 혹은 창작자들이 뇌물을 어떻게 받아들였는지 살펴보았다. 또한 뇌물이 그 사회배경 안에서 어떻게 작용하고, 뇌물을 주고받는 사람들이 그것을 어떻게 인식하고 있는지를 알아보았다. 이것을 통해 뇌물문제가 발생했던 상황과 그것의 문제를 해결하기 위해 선인들은 어떠한 방식을 취했는지 살펴볼 수 있었다. 문학에서 뇌물관련 작품이 본격적으로 대두된 것은 조선 후기에 이르러서였다. 이전 시기에 없었던 것은 아니나 조선후기에는 봉건 체제의 모순과 부조리, 상업과 화폐 경제의 발달과 함께 뇌물 문제가 급격히 증가하였다. 그중에서도 뇌물과 관련된 작품들은 주로 현실비판가사와 서사한시, 그리고 한문단편에서 찾아볼 수 있었다.우선 현실비판가사는 사회현실을 비판한 가사작품으로 삼정의 문란의 폐해와 관료들의 수탈행위들을 적나라하게 드러냈다. 그리고 이 시기 서사한시 작품들은 백성들의 입장에서 권세가들의 행태를 고발하고 그 사이에 발생하는 사회적 모순과 갈등의 문제를 다루었다. 관료들이나 권세가들의 수탈과 그에 맞선 백성들의 대응에는 뇌물이라는 것이 관여하고 있었다. 또한 한문단편에는 부(富)에 관한 이야기들이 상당수 차지하고 있는데, 여기에도 뇌물이 작용하고 있었다. 앞에서 밝힌바와 같이 조선후기에 들어서면 다양한 문학 장르에서 뇌물과 관련된 작품들이 창작되었다. 그것은 뇌물을 인식하는 개념과 범위 그리고 정도에 이르기까지 다양하게 형상화되었다. 그들은 모두 조선후기 현실의 경험을 토대로 비판의식이 두드러진 갈래들이었다. 이들 갈래에서는 사회현실을 비판적으로 바라본다는 공통된 지향점을 지녔지만 뇌물의 형상화 방식은 갈래들끼리 겹치기도 하고 분별되기도 하였다. 이러한 현상들은 현대의 우리에게 현대사회의 뇌물문제를 다시금 바라 볼 수 있는 계기가 될 것으로 보인다.This study examines the forms of bribery expressed in the classic literary works produced during the late Joseon Dynasty. Specifically, the study explores how bribes are defined in these works, and how bureaucrats or writers accepted these bribes. Further examination is devoted to how bribes worked in this social background, and how those who gave and took bribes were perceived. The form of a bribe in a literary work reveals the writer’s perception of it; thus, the perception towards a bribe is specific. Literary works related to bribes began to flourish during the late Joseon Dynasty. Other works related to bribes existed long before that time, but their number increased greatly since the contradiction and irrationality of the feudal system, the development of commerce, and the emergence of a currency economy during the Joseon Dynasty. The old forms of Korean verse used during the Joseon Dynasty, which criticized social reality, explicitly revealed the harmful effects of the tax system and detailed the exploitation acts performed by bureaucrats. In addition, the narrative Chinese poetry during this time criticized the conduct of powerful figures, and dealt with the problems of social contradictions and conflicts from the viewpoint of ordinary people. Short pieces in classical Chinese maintained reality as they contained various aspects of life and documented the consciousness of the age. Short pieces in classical Chinese literature described the actual events that took place in real life. The number of pieces related to bribes increased markedly. The forms of bribe in these pieces were described as a spoils system: the scope of these bribes was limited to the act of buying government positions using one’s own assets. The intervention of the narraor was not shown when it came to accumulating wealth. Furthermore, the form of character was focused on accumulating wealth in these pieces. Though their focus was on the process of accumulating wealth, these pieces did not mention what would be done with this wealth. Bribes could not be considered mutually beneficial, as they no longer had the spirit of reciprocity. Bribes in historical story books - a sort of transaction between the wealthy and bureaucrats - acted as an element that hindered public functions.

Public service delivery in South Africa: The political influence at local government level

This paper analyses poor service delivery at local government level, which is attributed to the politicisation of administrative components in municipalities, resulting in poor local governance. The public service delivery system has been perceived as one of the most important ways of reducing poverty through poverty alleviation programmes. As part of the South African government's cooperative system, key stakeholders in municipalities ought to adopt an integrated approach to public service delivery. An integrated approach to public service delivery demands that local municipalities, together with relevant stakeholders, integrate processes and services to ensure effective and efficient service delivery. This ultimately will result in an improved standard of living and sustainable livelihood for communities. With regard to public service delivery, local municipalities have the obligation of creating income opportunities people, especially the poor, with the sole aim of contributing towards poverty reduction and the realisation of the expectations of people, as stated in the South African government's White Paper of transforming public service delivery. The political interface in local municipalities greatly affects effective and efficient administration, as well as growth opportunities. Administrators, therefore, have the important function of ensuring that explicit assignments of objectives and administrative functions are wholly separated from the policymaking activities of government. This paper, therefore, suggests that municipalities adopt the merit system and abandon the spoils system that is highly characterised by political favours and political interferences. Political favours and interferences are dominant in local South African government, and they hinder the process of providing services equally.

LOJALNOŚĆ POLITYCZNA CZY PODEJŚCIE TECHNOKRATYCZNE? OBSADA URZĘDÓW LOKALNYCH W USA. STUDIUM HISTORYCZNO-PRAWNE

StreszczenieW niniejszym artykule przedstawiono zagadnienie kształtowania się standardów obsady urzędów lokalnych w Stanach Zjednoczonych, z uwzględnieniem nacisku na harmonizowanie kryterium lojalnościowego i kryterium merytorycznego, przy jednoczesnym wprowadzeniu wątków przyczynkowych dotyczących kształtowania się menadżerskich form zarządzania w administracji publicznej. W pierwszej części artykułu rozważania poświęcono okresowi kolonialnemu. Na bazie analizy źródeł prawa, przedstawiono regulacje prawne wskazujące na cechy charakteru, których wymagano od kandydatów do pełnienia funkcji publicznej, jak również na okoliczności, które pozwalały na usunięcie ze stanowisk urzędników. Zagadnienia te uzupełniono na kanwie literatury przedmiotu. W dalszej części publikacji poruszono zagadnienie wpływu konstytucji stanowych na kształtowanie przesłanek obsady urzędów lokalnych, zwłaszcza w okresie przed rozpowszechnieniem się statutów władztwa miejscowego, które zapewniały mieszkańcom określonych jednostek lokalnych autonomię strukturalną. Druga połowa XIX wieku przyniosła z kolei intensywne zmiany w statusie prawnym jednostek lokalnych wynikających z urbanizacji i skutkujących rozwojem form municypalnych. Jednocześnie krytyka tzw. „systemu łupów” przyczyniła się do wprowadzania służby cywilnej na szczeblu lokalnym, co sankcjonowały orzeczenia sądowe, który to aspekt poruszono w ostatniej części artykułu.

America's Corporal: James Tanner in War and Peace by James Marten

Reviewed by: America's Corporal: James Tanner in War and Peace by James Marten Frances Clarke (bio) America's Corporal: James Tanner in War and Peace. By James Marten. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2014. Pp. 199. Cloth, $69.95; paper $24.95.) James Tanner—Civil War veteran, political kingmaker, and popular orator—was very much a product of his time and place: his fame did not outlast the nineteenth century. Yet this makes him a fascinating subject for a historical biography that seeks to illuminate the particular preoccupations, activities, and attitudes that nourished his celebrity during his own era. In James Marten's fast-paced, gracefully written study, Tanner's life offers a unique vantage point for examining Gilded Age politics, society, and culture. Born in a small village in New York State, Tanner entered the Union army at the age of seventeen and was promoted to corporal the following year—a rank he proudly claimed for the rest of his life. His regiment (the Eighty-Seventh New York Infantry) saw almost no battlefield service during his enlistment. But Tanner was unlucky enough to have both legs taken off below the knee by an exploding shell during the Second Battle of Bull Run. Marten vividly describes Tanner's experiences as he endured an operation, transportation northward, treatment for gangrene, and then life as a disabled veteran. He goes on to chart how Tanner threw himself into the study of stenography only a few months after the amputation of his legs, revealing the remarkable drive that marked the rest of his life. Having learned to walk on prosthetic limbs, Tanner worked in various state-government positions, got married, trained as a lawyer, and then secured a [End Page 722] position in the U.S. Custom House in Brooklyn. In this role, he made a name for himself as a plainspoken but enthralling public speaker—a talent he used in stumping for the Republican Party, which rewarded him with an appointment as tax collector of Brooklyn. It was as a spokesman for white Union veterans, however, that Tanner gained public and political clout. In an era when the veteran vote helped decide elections, Marten explains, Tanner's popularity among veterans enabled him to become part of an "inner circle" of lawyers, newspapermen, and current and former politicians who "chose candidates and plotted" for the Republican Party (63). The substantial role he played in helping elect Benjamin Harrison to the presidency in 1888 saw Tanner appointed to the position of commissioner of pensions—a role he used to push for a dramatic expansion of veterans' pensions, causing a backlash that forced his removal only a year later (and turned Tanner into an enduring symbol of the Gilded Age spoils system). His career finally culminated in his election as national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), the North's largest veterans organization. Marten's lean biography packs in an immense amount of information and analysis while effortlessly carrying readers along. Indeed, part of the pleasure of reading this work lies in its condensed detail, covering everything from the cauterization of wounds and the fitting of artificial limbs to the steps involved in filling out a pension application. Marten offers substantial historical evaluation throughout as well, but he subsumes it beneath the surface of his story. In detailing Tanner's political experience, for instance, Marten is also analyzing the way politics worked in this period: how voters cast their ballots, how campaigns operated, how patronage was distributed. In discussing Tanner's appeal among veterans, he is scrutinizing how celebrity was created at the time: through entrepreneurialism, the cultivation of political and press connections, and immense amounts of public lecturing. And in identifying Tanner's appeal among veterans, he adroitly unites his story with a series of larger themes, ranging from post-war concepts of manhood, citizenship, and veterans' political roles to Civil War memorialization. Marten's ability to cover such a wealth of detail and such a range of themes without sacrificing narrative pace means that his wonderful biography will appeal to generalist and specialist readers alike. The one aspect of Tanner's life that I wish had been covered more...

“Hit the Bricks, Buddy”: Nepotism and the Dark Side of Reinventing Government

The Reinventing Government (ReGo) movement that was popularized during the 1990's by Osborne and Gaebler’s 1992 book of the same title is founded on the concept of “managerialism,” which has “management rights” as its core theme (Shafritz & Russell, 2005). The principle of management rights advocates wideranging discretion for administrators in the decision-making process that can possibly circumvent the constitutional value of due process in the public sector. With this questionable allowance, unscrupulous public administrators have the opportunity to employ patronage practices beyond acceptable limits that allows a “spoils system” of favoritism to prevail over merit practices. In this article, the concept of “spoils in government” is linked to reinventing government precepts that allow corruption to become ingrained within an organization’s culture. As a consequence, opportunities for ethical violations of office increase relative to the degree of discretionary authority afforded to public administrators. Should a corruptible individual assume office in such an environment, the likelihood of unethical behavior becomes relatively certain. A case study of nepotism from the same decade of reinventing government is documented that illustrates how the implementation of an employment pool in the hiring process of a municipal fire department permitted unethical violations of due process by its fire chief. The discretional authority afforded to a corruptible fire chief in the name of managerialism reinstated a culture of favoritism prevalent within the department from earlier days. The resulting public scandal was sensational but shortlived and was ineffectual in redressing the wrongs brought about by the misuse of authority. The discretionary hiring process not only continues in the department to this day but has been expanded to include promotions.

Pilkada 2015 and Patronage Practice among Bureaucrat in West Kalimantan, Indonesia

<p>Majority studies on electoral dynamics in Indonesia are reinforce patronage as a pattern of relationships between candidates, winning team, and voters. One of winning team element which have little attention from scholars is bureaucrat. Although, normatively, bureaucrats are required to neutral in all type of general election, but in fact bureaucrats is very involved deeply in general elections. Based on empirical research in Sintang District and Ketapang District, West Kalimantan, Indonesia, we found that bureaucrats have a significant role as a winning team in <em>pilkada</em> (direct election for local leader). Patronage is a keyword to explain political relation between bureaucrats and candidate in <em>pilkada</em>. This situation was triggered by the fact that there are many candidates who have social background as civil servant and, consequently, have direct access to bureaucracy. Bureaucrats have high motivation to participate in <em>pilkada</em> as a broker due to protecting their vested interest. In our cases, the vested interest of bureaucrat is career stability which is promising additional personal revenue and social status. Consequently, staffing (circulation of position) within bureaucracy does not followed by auction mechanism (merit system), but following nepotism mechanism (spoil system). The winner of <em>pilkada</em> is socially pressured to accommodate all bureaucrats who has become their winning team. Finally, we discuss our finding and propose future agenda research to understanding this phenomenon. </p>

Representative Bureaucracy, Meritocracy and Nation Building In Nigeria, Bola Dauda and Toyin Falola

Reviewed by: Representative Bureaucracy, Meritocracy, and Nation Building in Nigeria by Bola Dauda and Toyin Falola Kenneth E. Kalu Dauda, Bola, and Toyin Falola. 2016. REPRESENTATIVE BUREAUCRACY, MERITOCRACY, AND NATION BUILDING IN NIGERIA. Amherst, N.Y.: Cambria Press. In Representative Bureaucracy, Meritocracy, and Nation Building in Nigeria, Bola Dauda and Toyin Falola set out to examine one of the most important pubic institutions that continues to define Nigeria’s developmental trajectory: public service. Drawing from rich historical and archival sources, they provide a concise but excellent synthesis of the historical development of the Nigerian public service from the colonial period to the present, and they highlight its regional composition of the federal public service, key [End Page 106] reforms, disjuncture, major challenges, and prospects. They then focus on “representative bureaucracy” in the Nigerian public service, interrogating the application of the concept, the myth of representativeness, and the folly in the federal character principle, promoted as the instrument that would produce fair representation of all the ethnic groups in the nation’s public service. According to the coauthors, the federal character principle as currently practiced in Nigeria is the same as the spoils system as practiced in the United States in the early nineteenth century. This differs from “the positive affirmative action practiced in the second half of the twentieth century” in the United States (p. 9). The federal character principle was designed to force some balance and equal representation of all the regions in the Nigerian public service; however, it failed to acknowledge a critical ingredient for appointment into the public service: the possession of appropriate skills and competence derived from formal Western education and training. For several reasons, the northern part of Nigeria lags behind the southern part in educational attainment. This book offers rich historical data evidencing a huge gap in educational attainment between the North and the South, starting in the colonial period. This gap reflects the system of colonial administration in each region, early missionaries’ activities, the role of the regional governments, and the role of private organizations and households. The South embraced Western education from the early days of the colonial period, but the North did not. Wide gaps in educational attainment meant that the South dominated the Nigerian public service since the 1940s. At independence in 1960, the departing British colonial officials handed over political leadership to the North despite the region’s backwardness in educational attainment. The new political leaders from the North felt that what they observed as imbalances in the federal public service must be addressed to promote equal representation of all regions in federal institutions; however, instead of strengthening the variable that would give Northerners the same chances that are available to Southerners through aggressive and methodical investment in education, the country decided it would force equal representation in the federal public service simply through legislation. The authors argue that the federal character principle, as practiced in Nigeria, undermines the virtues of merit and the pursuit of excellence, promotes a culture of mediocrity, and systematically makes the nation’s public service sector another weak institution of the state. Dauda and Falola argue that besides weakening the public service, the federal character principle creates another problem, similar to the one it seeks to solve. Political leadership in postindependence Nigeria has been dominated largely by the North. Forcing “representative bureaucracy” would entail a “transfer of administrative powers to the same group that has hitherto been enjoying political leadership and the associated powers” (p. 103). This means that the North would control both the political leadership and [End Page 107] the bureaucracy, and in an environment with weak institutions, where ethnic tensions and rivalry are the norm, such an arrangement could pose serious challenges for the South. This apparent miscalculation is not the only paradox associated with the federal character principle. The authors point to the real paradox, where the Nigerian constitution on the one hand admonishes all public officers and institutions to operate rationally and to treat all Nigerians fairly, irrespective of ethnicity, tribe, and religion, and yet on the other hand mandates that Nigerians can receive an undue advantage in appointment to public office or admission to federal educational institutions simply...

El mundo rural ante la desamortización general. Los modelos de la España interior (Ciudad Real, 1855-1910)

Este estudio expone parte de los resultados de una investigación sobre la Desamortización General en la provincia de Ciudad Real, en la que las ventas alcanzaron un volumen considerable y, por lo tanto, tuvieron un impacto significativo. Se fundamenta en la consulta de un amplio abanico de fuentes (expedientes de subastas, protocolos, boletines de venta, libros de hacienda, censos electorales…) y en una metodología que intenta equilibrar los aspectos puramente cuantitativos con los cualitativos, siempre bajo la necesaria premisa de la construcción de modelos teóricos en base a comparativas con lo sucedido tanto a nivel regional como nacional. Se persigue principalmente revelar qué grupos sociales adquirieron bienes, valorar las transformaciones sociales que ello supuso y evaluar la participación del mundo rural, especialmente de aquellos sectores vinculados a la tierra, en la desamortización. Y todo ello con dos objetivos: establecer un modelo encuadrado en la España interior y evaluar el papel de la desamortización en el proceso de formación de las élites agrarias en la España del siglo xix y en la posible vinculación entre desamortización y caciquismo. En todo caso se debe subrayar que el resultado de nuestra investigación establece un modelo peculiar, incluso dentro del contexto geográfico regional, que permiten superar visiones e interpretaciones clásicas.