We Have Numbers Of Free Samples

Abstract

The most important aspect that will lead to the development of the economic system is that a country must be administered by using good governance because of it is one of the actors in governance. This study aimed to explore local government’s ultimate outcome in Songkhla Province that the process of the study was conducted in 975 studied cases by using self-administered questionnaire during 21 November 2010 to 24 January 2011. The results of this study found that the ultimate outcome of bureaucracy was more leveled (mean = 3.0841, SD. = .6478) and people’s acceptance of their performance was more leveled as well (mean = 3.0841, SD. = .64783). Regarding the modification on applying good governance to bureaucracy, it was found that they could apply the principle of good governance as it was more leveled and the ultimate outcome was accepted by the people in the community. Finally, this study also found that most of the people accepted all the ultimate outcomes. The implication of this study is that the government has to decentralize power to the local government to do things by themselves and to promote and support the people to join in every policy and environmental and globalization factors.

Keywords: Good Governance, Local Government, Municipality.

Introduction

The problem of corruption has been around for a long time in Thailand and its roots are deep in the culture of the society (Pongpichit, 2003) and the problem of corruption is its corroding effects on economic growth (Surawichai, 2004). While huge amounts of money are lost during the implementation of projects due to corruption itself, more will be lost while trying to fight against and stop it. Of course this is a necessity if trying to create a better future (Makesawan, 2000).

Thai government has made efforts to clean up their own nest by introducing new laws and trying to move on to good governance at the same time (Warsta, 2004). Explanations of economic and social development have always been a complex and inexact exercise. Since the emergence of ‘Development’ as a separate sub-discipline in the social sciences in general and in economics in particular, a variety of theoretical formulations and empirical generalizations have dominated the literature explaining both developmental successes and failures (Toye, 2003). Over the last decade and especially since the East Asian Crisis of 1997, a consensus of sorts has been reached in mainstream development literature that the most important element separating successful developers from unsuccessful ones is the quality of governance in countries (World Bank, 1997; Kauffman & Kraay, 2001).

Finally, the Thai government had a policy to use good governance in all public sectors and inserted this policy in the 1997 Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand. All public sectors must accept and implement this policy. Currently, all public, private and citizen sectors are required to implement the six key elements of good governance.

A study by the World Bank (2007) found in Thailand, that the standard of good governance when compared to other countries did not change in 2006. But when compared to 2005, the governance effectiveness of Thailand was 65% and regulatory quality was 62% while the rule of law was 55% and finally control of corruption was 50%. It was noted accountability and political stability for Thailand in 2006 continually decreased when compared to 2005. It was derived from the political change in parliament in 2006. Protests and related criminal activity appeared in various areas during this time.

In Songkhla province, for instance, despite economic gains, residents feel they are being marginalized, mainly due to the following problems: lack of good governance of public policies and large-scale development projects. (Establishing New Strategy in Songkhla Province Annual Report, 2010).

According to literature reviews, the author has found that there are many problems on good governance implementation, the officials or leaders and stakeholders in local governments lacked of understanding and knowledge of using the good governance principal. There was lack of follow up evaluation in the accomplishment and effectiveness of good governance implementation in local government (Mungkasem, 2003).

As above mentioned data, the author is most interested to study the ultimate outcome of good governance implementation and evaluate such accomplishments including its effectiveness of implementation of good governance in local governments. This paper aimed to identify and evaluate the ultimate outcomes of applying good governance principles in the local government of Songkhla Province.

Framework of Analysis

The framework of analysis will involve two variables namely independent and dependent variables and this study also based on a modified version of the Easton model of system theory analysis. (System theory is celebrated at length in the third chapter.) Basically, the Easton’s model comprises three major elements, namely, input, throughput and output. In the adapted model, has been added (see a figure 1).

Figure 1 Modified Model.

Model of Good Governance System

Feedback

Sources: Modified model of David Easton. In “An approach to the analysis of political system”, World politic,9, (April 1957). P 383, 9180,

Gabrice Almond, Comparative Political : System Process Policy second edition, (Proton : Little Brown Company, 1978) (hpt.)

Methodology

This study employed cross sectional survey research which looked at the ultimate outcomes of local government and acceptance among people in communities. The study covered all local government in Songkhla Province.

Population Sample Size and Sampling Technique

The study population numbers 201,301 cases was calculated for number of sample size consisting of (i) Members of Municipal Council, numbering 500 cases, (ii) Municipal Administrative Committee, numbering 150 cases, (iii) Officials in municipality 650 cases. The sample size and sampling technique was conducted using the Taro Yamane formula for social and behavioral research (Cochran, 1963).

Data Analysis

A process of data analysis was used to test the data based on the research questions and original hypotheses. Statistical analyses were conducted through two sets: the first set was analysis consisting of Mean, Correlation analysis and Independence compare mean analysis. The second was hierarchical analysis to test the moderator variable.

Results

As shown in Table 1, most of the participants were bureaucrats numbering 564 and this consisted of male (57.8%) and female (42.2%) followed by the people who were 384 in number. This sample consisted of male (61.7%) and female (38.3%) respectively. Regarding the age factor, it was found that most of bureaucrats were over 45 years followed by 36-40 years. On examining their status, most of the bureaucrats were found to be married and so were the people sample. Regarding education level, it was found that bureaucrats had bachelor degrees (52.6%) while the people also had received bachelor degrees with a percentage of (52.5%). Concerning the current position, most of the bureaucrats were employed as officers in municipality (66.4%) while the people who were people living in the community accounted for (63.4%). Judging the experience, it was revealed that most of the bureaucrats’ working experience reached over 21 years (32.1%) and people also had experience in living in the community over 21 years (33.9%). Finally, this study found that most of bureaucrats had income between 10,001-20,000 baht (40.8%), whereas people’s income ranged between 10,001-20,000 baths (37.0%) per month.

Table 1 Percentage Distribution for Demographic Characteristics of Respondents ((N=948)

Variable	Frequency		Percentage
	Bureaucracy	People	Bureaucracy	People
	n=564	n=384	%	%
Gender
Male	326	237	57.8	61.7
Female	238	147	42.2	38.3
Age
20-25	11	6	2.0	1.6
26-30	55	32	9.8	8.4
31-35	71	48	12.6	12.5
36-40	98	58	17.4	15.1
41-45	112	79	19.9	20.6
Over 45	217	160	38.5	41.8
Missing	1	–	–	–
Status
Single	100	66	17.7	17.2
Married	438	297	77.7	77.5
Dis **	26	20	4.6	5.3
Missing	–	1	–	–
Education
Less bachelor	121	86	21.5	22.5
Bachelor	296	201	52.6	52.5
Graduate	146	96	25.9	25.0
Missing	1	1	–	–
Position
Admin/Leader	113	83	20.1	21.7
Member/Committee	76	57	13.5	14.9
Officer/People	374	243	66.4	63.4
Missing	1	1	–	–
Experience
Less 5	117	77	20.7	20.1
5-10	141	88	25.0	23.0
11-15	80	57	14.2	14.9
16-20	45	31	8.0	8.1
Over 21	181	130	32.1	33.9
Missing	1	1	–	–
Income
Less 10,000 B.	102	70	18.1	18.2
10,001-20,000	225	142	40.8	37.0
20,001-30,000	134	94	23.8	24.5
Over 30,001	102	78	18.1	20.3
Missing

 

As shown in Table 2, it can be asserted that performance of bureaucrats and application of good governance principles were significantly moderate (mean= 3.7240, SD. =.80985). However, given the other aspects such as the application of good governance on efficacy andeffectiveness appeared to be moderate level while the other factors outlined in the classification were more higher (mean=3.2742, SD. =.8024).

Table 2 Level of ultimate outcome classified on bureaucracy and people in community

Ultimate Outcome Bureaucracy	Mean	S.D.	Level of Ultimate Outcome
Public participation	3.5956	.72126	More
Honesty and transparency	3.5661	.75908	More
Accountability	3.4587	.72968	More
Political legitimacy	3.7240	.80985	More
Fair legal framework and predictability	3.6422	.76412	More
Efficacy and effectiveness	3.2742	.80240	Moderate

 

Table 3 showed that most of bureaucrats had more level of ethic especially productivity (mean=3.5832, SD= .84013), efficiency (mean=3.5570, SD = .81529), honesty (3.5359 SD= 1.00576) and truth worthy (mean =3.5303, SD= .81420) respectively and other items found that they had moderate level.

Table 3 Ethics of bureaucrats in local government

Productivity5641.005.003.5832.84013More

Ethics	n	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation	Level
Discipline	564	1.00	5.00	3.4795	.80536	More
Skill	564	1.00	5.00	3.4343	.77027	More
Commitments	564	1.00	5.00	3.4969	.86230	More
Diligent	564	1.00	5.00	3.4064	.91699	Moderate
Self-Management	564	1.00	5.00	3.4610	.78659	More
Entrepreneurship	564	1.00	5.00	3.4487	.77003	More
Clean	564	1.00	5.00	3.4887	.98466	More
Honest	564	1.00	5.00	3.5359	1.00576	More
Efficiently	563	1.00	5.00	3.5570	.81529	More
Effectiveness	563	1.00	5.00	3.4173	.86459	More
Quality	564	1.00	5.00	3.2939	.84006	Moderate
Trust Worthy	564	1.00	5.00	3.5303	.81420	More
Self Determination	564	1.00	5.00	3.4481	.84170	More
Thrifty	564	1.00	5.00	3.2097	.94675	Moderate
Creativity	564	1.00	5.00	3.0946	.99448	Moderate
Incooperative	564	1.00	5.00	3.3710	.86487	Moderate

 

As shown in Table 4, the results showed that factors affecting ultimate outcomes of bureaucrats in municipality were education level and position with statistical significance at p-value =0.00 (mean=2.0444, SD.=68783), (mean= 2.4636, SD.=.80700) respectively. However, the other variables did not affect the ultimate outcomes of bureaucracy to a most degree.

Socio-demographic	n	Mean	SD	T/F	Sig.
Sex
Male	326	3.5610	.67341	T.731	.465
Female	238	3.5194	.65931	T.734	.463
Age	564	4.5887	1.4443	–	.965
Status	564	1.8688	.45448	–	.708
Education	564	2.0444	.68783	F .250	.000
Position	564	2.4636	.80700	–	.000
Experience	564	3.0567	1.5634	–	.995
Income	564	2.4192	.98483	–	.070

 

Table: 4 Factors affecting ultimate outcomes of bureaucrats

Discussions

This study found that level of the ultimate outcome was classified found that most of their procedures relating to good governance were more balanced. Only the efficacy and effectiveness among both bureaucracy and people were moderate (mean = 3.2742, SD. =.80240, mean=3.0841, SD. =.64783). This can be explained in that the ultimate outcome of bureaucracy is good, and it is directly related to peoples’ satisfaction, due to the fact that most policies of local government will support the peoples’ requirements, such as various projects that are implemented by the local government. It is normal to say that when the people in a community have conveniences and they can be part of the planning in local governance, when people in a community can participate in the process of local governance, they feel that are a part of this area and can share their ideas to develop the community, thus they create a higher level of good governance that consists of public participation. Honesty and transparency, accountability, political legitimacy, fair legal framework and predictability. This is consistent with the findings of ADB (1999), which explained that if all plans of organization are supported by peoples’ requirements. Their satisfaction will be followed, since people will be satisfied when they are supported. UNDP (1997) stated that a lack of good governance is increasingly contributing to all evil in our society. Thus good governance should be supported, in order to increase the process of implementation in organization, and in the concept of Gill (2001) for achieving good governance in the right way, and achieving the development of goals.

Although the study of Dumrongchai (2001) revealed that in the past Thailand has faced corruption problems, the Thai government has tried to develop a good governance system for organization. This process is beneficial to the working processes of local governance, because people can participate in all the processes of implementation in local governance. This is consistent with the study of Dumrongchai (2001), and also supported by the study of Prosopchokchai (2000), stating that if corruption was eradicated from the process of implementation within an organization, then transparency will appear to peoples’ satisfaction, and they will like to be a part of the development process.

But this study found that efficacy and effectiveness was at a moderate level, both of the bureaucracy and the people. This can be explained in that if local governance has good or bad procedures, it will effect peoples’ satisfaction in the community. This element was one variable that effected peoples’ satisfaction and has created a moderate level of satisfaction to efficacy and effectiveness. Thus, local government should increase their efficacy towards their ultimate outcome, and do it with effectiveness. Pongphaijit (2001) stated that the process of implementation in local government should increase efficacy among practitioners within that organization.

Recommendations

The study result showed good governance in local public administrations in Thailand. A case Study in Songkhla Municipality could be adopted for the model of good governance in local public administrations in Thailand. The model was shown detail as figure 3 as following;

Figure 2: The Model of GG in local Public Administration in Thailand

External Factor of Organizational System, this study found that there are various factors affecting systems of good governance consisting of:

1. Globalization Factor, globalization is an external factor affecting the good governance system in the country thus, Thailand has a guideline to encourage and develop the 2 new concepts as follows;

1.1. Developing a democratic system by focusing on politicians, the political system, the governing system and finally the people in the country. They should have knowledge about.

1.2. Preventing problems and enforcing laws related to corruption, Thailand should design an investigation system by peoples’ and NGO participation. The most important implementation is solving the corruption problem; it should rank first on the national agenda of Thailand.

2. Organizational behavior factor remains the main problem appearing in the organizational system, the result of this study found that there are 2 strategies as follows;

2.1. Applying the 17 elements of Ethics of  Prof. Dr.Ahmand Atory  Bin  Hussain (1995),

2.2. Good cultural organization, in Thailand this will emphasize personnel development, especially the personnel of the government.

3. Policy Factor

Central government should set a principal of good governance as a national policy and should support this process effectively and should be decentralization to local governments, and a plan to develop the principal of good governance in the organization, including how to determine policy and a plan for implementation.

4. Environmental Factor

Process a good governance system that is brought to use in formulating a policy and plan, it should have concern in environmental factors regarding the quality of water resources, air, forest resources, wild animals and sustainability of the country and community.

Internal factors of organization (municipality) 2 sections are presented as follows;

1. Regarding the system of GG (Input, through put, output, and outcome) found that there are 2 recommendations as follows;

1.1 Input, should promote 17 elements of ethics to the staff in organization of the municipality and develop this organization as a good culture organization. The organization must formulate an administrative structure of municipality council, administrative committee and various staff in organization. The structure should be suitable for the process of making decisions with participatory principal.

The system should formulate a policy on good governance and a master plan project which is consistent with the principal of good governance. The process should have committee encouraging good governance and should cover 6 elements of good governance. The municipality should have a promotion involving a contest of the municipality and staff in the organization at least 1 time per year.

1.2 Through Put, there should be implementation regarding good governance and follow up by a committee who is formulated in the input of the process.

1.3 Output, there should be an evaluation regarding the effectiveness of good governance under KPI of input. The evaluation will be assessed for success of all elements of good governance, and should rank the categories of success in various municipalities in Songkhla province regarding participation, honesty and transparency, accountability, political legitimacy, fair legal framework predictability and ethics.

1.4 Outcome, there should be an evaluation regarding effectiveness of 3 sections as follows; public’s acceptance on good governance principals, corruption free and have a good cultural model which can lead to organizational change in the future.

2. Regarding communication or feedback of the system, there are 2 sections on verbal communication and nonverbal communication by the transmission of massages without the use of words by gestures, the use of space and time to develop the municipality as a main organization of a knowledge transfer system.

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