Globalization has created an economic and political system of global governance that is characterized by the prominence of global institutions such as the United Nations and World Bank. According to Tehranian (2002), “global institutions currently shape the rule-making, rule-enforcement, rule-adjudication, rule-communication and rule-
surveillance functions of our global civilization” (p. 8). These global institutions exist with nation states; however, their global reach gives them power and scope beyond that of a national government. Thus, it is within this context of global governance that the
Cambodian education reforms take place. The economic and political power of global institutions, such as the multinational organizations discussed in this thesis, exist in their ability to set rules and enforce those rules. The content analysis I undertook demonstrates that this ability is clear in the policy documents and directives, particularly in relation to the multinational organizations’ demands for and insistence upon good governance from the Cambodian government.
The documents indicate that the multinational organizations hold that the majority of the blame for the failure of the development agenda lies with the Cambodian
government and is seen to be due to their lack of good governance. This implies that the breaking of global governance rules leads to failure. This notion is indicative of the hegemonic nature of the global reform agenda espoused by many multinational
organizations. The failure of developing nations to meet the rules of the dominant global institutions is given as the only reason for the failure of reform and development
programs. There is no recognition that there could be deficiencies within the agenda itself.
The Country Assistance Strategy notes that poor governance in Cambodia is to blame for a reduced Bank Group effectiveness and the failure to achieve development outcomes in the country. This notion was then used as a filter through which projects the World Bank decided to fund flow. If a government is strongly committed to reforming its governance of a sector, then the World Bank and its partners would support a defined reform agenda with financial aid. I found it interesting that the CAS set out the WB ESSP as the first project under the new development paradigm. Much of the dialogue in the CAS has to do with the achievement of the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals.
Therefore, at the highest level, the Cambodian Government is accountable for their governing practices. If they fail to meet World Bank standards for effectiveness, the IDA will utilize their right to “strategic selectivity” and cease funding basic programs and policy directives in Cambodia. This demonstrates clearly the influence that multinational organizations have on Cambodian educational policy making.
The notion of accountability and effectiveness through good governance trickles down throughout the multinational funded educational projects. For example, in terms of the financial management and disbursement arrangements, money for the Education Sector Support Program is to be put only into special accounts. These accounts are monitored by a special World Bank Division (WBD) of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MoFE) for the Royal Government of Cambodia (World Bank, 2005a, p. 40). Therefore, even at the Ministry level all financial operations are run through and by World Bank people and procedures. Tehranian (2002) talks about the “grudging partnership” that exists between national states and global institutions (p. 20). This is a prime example of that partnership. In this case, two national ministries are penetrated by
a global institution. Cambodia must grudgingly accept this situation in order to receive the financial funding that makes the existence of a Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport necessary. Without the financial backing of the multinational organizations, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport would be severely handicapped and unable to carry out a full program of reform.
I found that the multinational organizations used Cambodia’s past problems with political corruption as a justification for their presence in the national ministries. For example, WB ESSP states that a 2004 Country Procurement Assessment Review found that in Cambodia, “corruption still pervades public sector activities and creates a
significant disincentive to foreign investment in the country” (World Bank, 2005a, p. 53). The report also reveals the World Bank’s perception that a lack of transparency has
created a system whereby domestic financial management systems and procedures could not be relied upon to use public funds for authorized purposes (those laid out in the rules) (World Bank, 2005a).
The Cambodian government policies also indicate the internalization of the notion of effectiveness through good governance, efficiency, and accountability. This can be seen in one of the key collaborative strategy papers that influenced the creation and adoption of the 3rd Education Strategic Plan (ESP) and education reform in general, the Royal Government of Cambodia’s (RGoC) Rectangular Strategy Policy. According to the Royal Government, the Rectangular Strategy is a key element used to support the implementation of their political platform. What I find particularly interesting is that at the centre of the rectangles is good governance which the Royal Government perceives to be the core of their agenda, a key element of neo-liberal ideology. However, what makes this particularly interesting is that the multinational financial agencies insist on an
improved governing structure to maintain their funding programs. The Cambodian government has internalized this focus on improved governance and made it a core aspect of their education agenda, thus demonstrating the influence of the multinational
organizations.
The content analysis conducted for this study indicates that the Cambodian
government’s perception is that education’s primary role is to increase the social capacity for development by creating a richer and deeper human resource base. The 3rd ESP states that education can be used for “enhancing capacity of human resources with technical and scientific skills that effectively respond to labour market needs” (MoEYS, 2005a, p. 8). This is very much in line with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank’s principle that education’s purpose is to enrich the economic structure of a country. The key to developing an education system capable of enriching the economic structure of the country, according to the multinational organizations, is to improve governance of that system according to a managerial business model.
The documents show that one of the ways of improving governance is through ongoing reforms to public administration. In accordance with this, the Royal Government instituted a program of Public Financial Management Reform (PFM). The purpose of this reform is to improve financial management and monitoring. How this relates to the 3rd ESP is that the management and monitoring of the 3rd ESP programs was to act as a pilot project for the PFM reforms. This then means that the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport is to be highly monitored throughout the course of the 3rd ESP by other ministries and international financial organizations who had particular interests in public financial management reforms. Some of the key tenets in the PFM reforms are the decentralization
and de-concentration of authority from the national level to the local level of bureaucracy (MoEYS, 2005a).
What I found to be particularly significant about these reforms is the insistence on the application of business principles on the education sector. These reforms are all about instilling a management culture in public institutions, such as education, in Cambodia. According to Ball (1992), the use of specialized managers excludes others from decision making processes and is ultimately about gaining control over the education system (p. 154). Therefore, those managers in charge of the PFM reforms had tight control over the financial decisions made within the education sector during the course of the 3rd ESP and their primary focus was on effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability as opposed to the educational enrichment of Cambodian students. This is indicative of the movement away from an education system focused on learner-needs to a system focused on institutional- needs. To reiterate, by instituting these reforms the Cambodian government has
internalized and imposed a business model on the education sector.
At the international level, the MoEYS intends to demonstrate its commitment to effectiveness through good governance through the continued monitoring of and reporting on their fiscal plans. The MoEYS states, “It is also important to ensure sufficient
information to all contributors to education costs in order for them to effectively judge on the value of current and future investments in the sector” (2005a, p. 18). The content analysis showed that fiscal responsibility is viewed as the hallmark of effectiveness and efficiency and the Royal Government and the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sport are determined to demonstrate sound fiscal practices in the education sector. The drive for effectiveness in all areas of education is a key concern in the national policy
The breakdown of priorities in the Cambodian Education Sector Support Program (ESSP) is also interesting in that it indicates things that the Royal Government feels they need to report on to the international, and, to a lesser extent, the national communities. For example, each priority program has its own financing plan that has to be clearly laid out and monitored. This demonstrates the global institution’s method of rule-surveillance. In addition, the whole notion of accountability is clear as measurable targets are laid out for each priority program as is a plan for monitoring each program. This breakdown of the policies into priority programs also helps to indicate where the bulk of financial assistance is going to year by year.
One of the key arguments I am putting forward is that neo-liberal ideals underlie all the major themes in the policy documents and directives. So how does neo-liberalism relate to the current state of global governance and the resulting need for good
governance in Cambodia? I believe that the policy documents and directives demonstrate that neo-liberalism and the related notion of good governance are inextricably connected. To make this argument, I want to go back to the notion of neo-liberalism as a form of governmentality. At its most basic level, neo-liberalism calls for minimal government and the dominance of the market. However, less government does not necessarily mean less governance (Larner, 2000, p. 12). The new forms of governance that emerge under neo-liberalism encourage institutions to conform to a business model, which can be seen in the policy documents. Thus, governance in a neo-liberal environment becomes about efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability on a global scale to meet the demands of the global economic market. In this environment, social institutions, such as educational facilities, are to be governed through technologies such as audits and assessment indexes (Rose, 1993). Neo-liberal governance is about the grudging partnership between national
governments and global institutions that is formed in response to the demands of the global marketplace. Global institutions use their dominant position in this partnership to create rules, enforce rules, communicate rules and use forms of surveillance to ensure compliance (Tehranian, 2002). The policy documents and directives under study here demonstrate how rules are written into multinational policy directives (CPIA index
requirements) as well as the forms of surveillance, such as the WBD within the MoFE. In contrast, the Cambodian national education policies demonstrate how the need to comply with the rules becomes internalized and part of a national agenda that is reflected in national education policies. This demonstrates how the global political power of institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) does not just act upon national governments but also constructs them in particular ways (Larner, 2000, p. 18).