Decentralisation in the South Pacific; Local, provincial and state government in twenty countries edited by P. Larmour and R. Qalo University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji, 1985, 393 pp.
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.4230070415 |
| Published date | 01 October 1987 |
| Author | Graham Teskey |
| Date | 01 October 1987 |
410
Book
Reviews
different languages are spoken, and many
of
the culturally diverse communities only entered
the monetary economy in the past thirty years. Retired colonial servants and foreign
academics have often recounted their view
of
these difficulties,but the development of a
home-grown critical faculty is in its infancy, and the perspectives
of
the new administrative
establishment are not yet well documented. This collection
of
essays, written mostly by
members of the new establishment and edited by a Canadian political scientist and the
Director of PNG’s administrative college, aims to
fill
these gaps. Individual contributions
discuss aspects of administration and comment
on
various issues that have arisen since
independence. However, coverage is patchy, health and education sectors are discussed
but
not
agriculture, and the most difficult problems like the appropriate relationship
between politicians and public servants, and the contentious dual-wage system whereby
expatriate contract officers are paid twice the rate to
fill
the same job as Papua New
Guineans, are barely skimmed over.
Those unfamiliar with the country will find the book unhelpful in explaining its adminis-
trative structure. Weightier introductory and concluding chapters could have assisted, while
creating a better context for the essays by defining the book’s purpose more exactly.
Perhaps, too, the editors could have livened up the ponderous bureaucratic style of many
contributions by reducing the quotations and checking the tendency to over-elaborate on
peripheral detail. They should certainly have eliminated some irritating repetition that
includes twice reciting the eight aims of national development, corrected at least some
of
the typos which blemish almost every page, and checked some serious errors
of
fact
including the assertion by the Canadian editor that Locke and Adam Smith are nineteenth-
century authors.
WILL
FRENCH
lately
PNH
Institute
of
Applied Social and Economic Research
DECENTRALISATION IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC; LOCAL, PROVINCIAL AND
STATE GOVERNMENT IN TWENTY COUNTRIES
Edited
by
P.
Larmour and
R.
Qalo
University
of
the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji,
1985,
393
pp.
The twenty countries and territories included in this detailed survey of governmental
structures are small by any standard, ranging from a population
of
only
1600
in
the case
of Tokelau to
3.5m
in Papua New Guinea. That any should be seriously committed to
decentralized systems
of
planning and/or administration may, at first sight, appear incongru-
ous.
However, a cursory glance through the book will reveal the diversity within the
region-of constitutional status, geographical conditions, linguistic confusion and ethnic
composition. This diversity is reflected in the widely different policy responses adopted by
Governments under the title ‘decentralization’-varying from village councils with very
weak powers to fully-fledged (and constitutionally entrenched) Provincial Parliaments.
Almost half the book concentrates-rightly
s-n
Melanesia; Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. These three countries are implementing radical decentral-
ization policies, including both political devolution and geographic deconcentration. Whilst
considerable variations
in
structure do exist, the authors suggest a degree
of
uniformity
in
explaining why decentralization policies were adopted. These include
the
post-indepen-
dence reaction to colonial centralism and paternalism, the fear
of
regional secession
(realized
in
Vanuatu’s case) and the inherited political culture, where decisions were usually
taken by consensus at the village level. The authors identify common problems currently
being encountered
in
implementing these policies; resource scarcity, local-national conflicts
and confusion over the division
of
powers and functions.
The book is descriptive rather than prescriptive, concentrating on the legal provisions
and structures established in order to pursue ‘decentralization’. A wealth of detail is
presented, which, given that the book is designed for island students and governments, is
very valuable. It is at its weakest
in
interpreting and assessing this varied experience and
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