Iki Project Brief
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IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state.
RESEARCH TOPIC Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. Scientific and policy relevance State strength has been an abiding concern for the development of policy in the Melanesian states. This has variously been framed in terms of the good governance and capacity agenda, and more lately in more security-centred terms when advocating massive policy engagement in the case of RAMSI. Despite considerable attention to certain manifestations of state weakness, such as corruption and the inability of governments to respond to major development policy challenges such as mounting issues of poverty and political instability, there has been little attempt to empirically investigate the relationship between society and state in these situations, most especially the conceptions and expectations held by the population regarding state agency and performance. This lacuna is even more striking when viewed in light of major attempts to deal with manifestations of state weakness, for instance the plethora of capacity building programmes targeting integrity institutions in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and PNG. In various forms, the broad thrust of state-building or institution building programming in Melanesia make tacit and untested assumptions about the nature of the relationship between society and the state in all these cases. According to the 2004 World Development Report produced by World Bank the major challenge to service delivery is ‘to find ways of increasing the responsiveness and accountability of service deliverers to users and citizens”. There is a core assumption that improvements in the delivery of state services will have a positive effect on demands for state efficacy and efficiency, through what could be called a “demonstrationist” ideal. This orientation makes little allowance for the specific sociocultural orientation of the diverse and often highly traditional subpopulations of Melanesian countries, which have considerable emphasis on concretised “project” type activities and whose political behaviour remains highly integrated with the traditional domain, in which community level politics, feasting and customary obligations remain central. The research intends to investigate the impact and significance in people's minds of the provision of services by the State in sectors such as justice, health, education, transport and projects. This approach is important because it will assist in understanding the interrelationship between people and the State and how this interrelationship is operationalised in people's responses to development programming and national service delivery. The following questions are central in exploring this interrelationship and how effectively the delivery of services by the State in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have improved the lives of the people and impacted on development outcomes:
What do people expect the state to provide in terms of services? How do delivered services compare to this expectation? What are the service people most associate with or expect from the state? How do people respond to delivered services and how does that compare to those which are not? How are these expectations framed in people’s minds?
Ultimately, the area that this research contributes to has importance beyond the Melanesian states, as it speaks to the concerns of democratisation theory and broader 1
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. political philosophy. These regions of theory remain largely bound by the experiential setting of Western Europe, which as cradle of the modern nation-state, may be a logical starting point. However, the unusual degree of autonomy and dis-integration that persist in Melanesian societies within states may provide some of the empirical basis for a richer and more universal articulation of the nature of social and political evolution, one that may be more suited to the rapidly evolving, decreasingly monolithic international framework of society and governance that is now becoming in the world today. Literature overview A good indicator of the quality of service delivery in both Vanuatu and Solomon Islands is the pattern of internal migration. In both countries internal migration is influenced by the distribution of “development” and social and economic opportunities. The concentration of education, medical, and employment opportunities in urban centres such as Port Vila, Santo and Honiara is a major factor in attracting people to these urban centres. The centralization of development and the problems it creates has been long recognized. For example, in Solomon Islands a Development Plan 1975 – 1979 by the then government acknowledged the need to decentralize administration and provide equal access to health, education, employment and transport services to other provinces (Connell 1983). Likewise, in Vanuatu since Independence the Government prioritised decentralisation by developing policies which were later transformed into legislation. It was hoped that through the decentralisation process both the economic and governing would be brought down to the village level (Nari 2000). However, despite such plans, policies, and rhetoric about decentralization, much of the investments and large-scale developments continued to be concentrated in and around urban centers such as Honiara or Port Vila. The rapid increase in the number of migrants to urban centres such as Honiara or Port Vila or Santo outgrew the ability of these urban centres to provide adequate and quality services such as sanitation, electricity, housing, education, health, water supply etc. Consequently, there is an increase in squatter settlements around these urban centres. According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2006 it was highlighted that ‘the standard of living in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu has fallen significantly in the last decade’. One of the contributing facts is the inadequate providing of services by the State to the people, particularly those living in rural areas. This is due to “misalignment between the rural location of the majority of the population and the urban concentration of state power in central government offices” as described by White (2007: 3). The gap between the urban and rural population is extreme (World Bank, 2006). Apparently, the impact of service delivery on the rural population in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu remains a contested issue. The process of economic growth and human development in rural areas is not accelerating progressively. Availability of resources is one of the determining factors for influencing service delivery. However, due to the prevalence of corruption, public mismanagement and weak State capacity the effective utilisation of resources for effective service delivery continues to be a challenge in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In an AusAid Study Report 2004 for Solomon Islands it was pointed out that the lack of regular payment of Provincial Grants by the Government affected the capacity of Provincial Governments to provide services. This is partly due to corruption, public mismanagement 2
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. and a weak State capacity. Apart from these problems it was also highlighted in a recent 2009 ADB Report for Vanuatu that poor infrastructure, weak governance and intrusive state interventions also affect growth in the private sector. Therefore, the thinking and discussion on service delivery by the state has attracted tremendous attention in recent years. The material on service delivery in both Solomon Islands and Vanuatu could be found in two areas: 1) desk studies with a focus on the interface between governance, aid and reform generally; 2) NGO/ Donor Agency reports and consultant/academic research that focuses mainly on specific issues relating to the providers of services instead of the recipients or users of the services in order to provide broader observations necessary to influence policy undertakings. Very little research has been undertaken into either the interaction between State and rural people in terms of service delivery, or into the way in which that interaction influenced people’s perceptions about the State and political representation. In addition, the literature on the impacts of the delivery of services in sectors such as justice, education, transport, education, health and projects is quite limited. Knowledge contribution of the project This research aims to make an initial but substantive contribution to the debate on effectiveness and significance of service delivery by the State. By undertaking a comparative study of the expectations of rural people of service delivery, and attachments to views on State institutions and political representation offers an important contribution to the literature on service delivery in Melanesia. It is anticipated that the findings of this research will also contribute towards broader governance and development literature. Also by taking a comparative approach this research could also contribute towards the current reform processes undertaken in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to address issues of service delivery. This research will also assist in the identification of the problems or constraints relating to service delivery. By doing so this will contribute to the multiple points of the policy cycle: engaging in academic debate regarding the idea and philosophical assumptions of policy thinkers, presenting new data to policy planners, involving policy actors in the conduct of research as a means to engaging them in the new knowledge approach being pursued.
OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH The objectives of this research are as follows: 1. Generate detailed community level data regarding service delivery experience and quality in 5 key areas of the service: transport, health, education, justice and projects. 2. Generate detailed community level data regarding expectations and perceptions of the State, its agencies and political representation in relation to service delivery. 3. Develop an initial understanding of the main factors influencing the perceptions and expectations of ni-Vanuatu and Solomon Islanders on public service delivery in rural communities.
3
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. RESEARCH METHODS The principal research will be carried out using a standard questionnaire which permits scope for qualitative information in response to open-ended questions. The final design of this questionnaire will be arrived at through a process of small group workshopping and trial surveys in the peri urban environment of both countries’ capitals. Key research questions The key research questions which will be addressed in the surveying include: a. b. c. receive? d. e. f. g. h.
How do people frame expectations of service delivery? What are their expectations of service delivery? What is their perception of the amount and quality of services they How does it relate to their views of their political leadership? How do they value/rank different types of services? What service delivery strategies exist? How do people measure the value or quality of services they receive? To what extent do people acknowledge the services they receive?
Factors measured by the research These factors will be measured by adopting a three part approach to each broad variable (service class): 1) what services have been delivered in that class? 2) what is their reaction to this level and type of delivery 3) what aspect of this variable class would they most wish improved and why? The questionnaire then will address issues of preference and priority, using techniques that will be derived from past lead researcher experience and from the trialling and work-shopping planned for the initial stages of this research. A mixture of direct questioning, solicitations of own experience and reactions to hypothetical scenarios will all be used as appropriate. Sample selection and size A total of three sample sites will be selected during the initial inception workshop, from amongst the series presented in the table below, one from each of three provinces for each of two countries. A total of 20 men and 20 women will be surveyed from each sample site. Candidate Sites for conducting of surveys Vanuatu sites Malekula (Malampa Erromango Island (Tafea by province Province) Province) Vao area Dillon’s bay Norsup area Pongkil bay Sarmette area Port Narvian Solomon Malaita Province Ysabel Province Islands sites by Takwa area Buala area province Rohinari area Kia area Fiu area Susubona area
Efate (Shefa Province) Mangaliliu Nguna Shifiri Western Province Lale Rarumana Sasavele
Instruments Sample instruments from antecedent research conducted by Islands Knowledge Institute (IKI) form separate attachments to this form. These are provided as an indication of the 4
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. type of questionnaire that will be designed as well as demonstration of the capability of the partner organisations to provide the necessary research design inputs to successfully carry out this research project. The questionnaire trialling process will produce a standard questionnaire design which will minimise the coding load for data collaters and the data entry process. There will be space and question time dedicated to the recording of qualitative data on people’s thoughts, and training will be provided to field researchers to enable them to capture key phrases and comments by survey participants. Data analysis and processing All data will be entered into simple Excel table format and then subject to a process of quality assurance by sampling – the exact sampling rate will be determined once survey reports are handed in. Secondary data coding, if necessary will proceed and descriptive statistics and correlation measures will be produced for an initial series of statistical information releases. Full analysis of the results will be published as discussion papers to encourage discussion and comment.
EXPECTED RESULTS AND DISSEMINATION There are expected at least three classes of results from this research: a.
New knowledge in the area of expectations of state in Melanesia;
Because a focus on expectations is novel, we expect significantly new data to be returned regarding the nature of people’s expectations as well as their experiences of state service delivery. Some of this will be confirmatory of previous, anecdotal or case study derived understanding, but we also expect that there will be data uncovering new aspects of this field that are not anticipated. b.
Policy formulation and/or implementation;
There will be considerable scope for policy implications in terms of whole of government awareness of the service preferences (or lack thereof) of different communities as well as their conceptions of the state itself. This research would have a good chance of providing usable information both to line agencies as well as accountability bodies, both governmental and extra-governmental given that service delivery efficacy is implicitly assumed to be a prime motivation in accountability demands. c.
Methodological development in the field of inquiry.
The trialling and work-shopping phases together with the full scale survey rollout offers a unique opportunity for students and local researchers to observe the development and implementation of a unique research approach for the subregion. In doing so, it can be expected that a great deal of methodological insight will be availed by the process of data gathering but especially reflections on the data gathering process. Dissemination This research is intended to engage with the national policy community in each country throughout the life-cycle of the project, by inviting voluntary involvement of interested stakeholders in discussions and workshopping at the outset, and updating them via a post-survey workshop and finally appraising them of key outcomes and results at the end of the project. It is intended that extensive use of a blog and of online discussion papers be also pursued, as part of an information dissemination campaign throughout the project. Finally, the third level of processing will be summarised in a paper targeted at the 5
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. peer reviewed publication process. The research mentor will have key inputs in facilitating this final step of research dissemination.
6
October 4, 2009
RESEARCH TOPIC Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. Scientific and policy relevance State strength has been an abiding concern for the development of policy in the Melanesian states. This has variously been framed in terms of the good governance and capacity agenda, and more lately in more security-centred terms when advocating massive policy engagement in the case of RAMSI. Despite considerable attention to certain manifestations of state weakness, such as corruption and the inability of governments to respond to major development policy challenges such as mounting issues of poverty and political instability, there has been little attempt to empirically investigate the relationship between society and state in these situations, most especially the conceptions and expectations held by the population regarding state agency and performance. This lacuna is even more striking when viewed in light of major attempts to deal with manifestations of state weakness, for instance the plethora of capacity building programmes targeting integrity institutions in Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and PNG. In various forms, the broad thrust of state-building or institution building programming in Melanesia make tacit and untested assumptions about the nature of the relationship between society and the state in all these cases. According to the 2004 World Development Report produced by World Bank the major challenge to service delivery is ‘to find ways of increasing the responsiveness and accountability of service deliverers to users and citizens”. There is a core assumption that improvements in the delivery of state services will have a positive effect on demands for state efficacy and efficiency, through what could be called a “demonstrationist” ideal. This orientation makes little allowance for the specific sociocultural orientation of the diverse and often highly traditional subpopulations of Melanesian countries, which have considerable emphasis on concretised “project” type activities and whose political behaviour remains highly integrated with the traditional domain, in which community level politics, feasting and customary obligations remain central. The research intends to investigate the impact and significance in people's minds of the provision of services by the State in sectors such as justice, health, education, transport and projects. This approach is important because it will assist in understanding the interrelationship between people and the State and how this interrelationship is operationalised in people's responses to development programming and national service delivery. The following questions are central in exploring this interrelationship and how effectively the delivery of services by the State in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have improved the lives of the people and impacted on development outcomes:
What do people expect the state to provide in terms of services? How do delivered services compare to this expectation? What are the service people most associate with or expect from the state? How do people respond to delivered services and how does that compare to those which are not? How are these expectations framed in people’s minds?
Ultimately, the area that this research contributes to has importance beyond the Melanesian states, as it speaks to the concerns of democratisation theory and broader 1
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. political philosophy. These regions of theory remain largely bound by the experiential setting of Western Europe, which as cradle of the modern nation-state, may be a logical starting point. However, the unusual degree of autonomy and dis-integration that persist in Melanesian societies within states may provide some of the empirical basis for a richer and more universal articulation of the nature of social and political evolution, one that may be more suited to the rapidly evolving, decreasingly monolithic international framework of society and governance that is now becoming in the world today. Literature overview A good indicator of the quality of service delivery in both Vanuatu and Solomon Islands is the pattern of internal migration. In both countries internal migration is influenced by the distribution of “development” and social and economic opportunities. The concentration of education, medical, and employment opportunities in urban centres such as Port Vila, Santo and Honiara is a major factor in attracting people to these urban centres. The centralization of development and the problems it creates has been long recognized. For example, in Solomon Islands a Development Plan 1975 – 1979 by the then government acknowledged the need to decentralize administration and provide equal access to health, education, employment and transport services to other provinces (Connell 1983). Likewise, in Vanuatu since Independence the Government prioritised decentralisation by developing policies which were later transformed into legislation. It was hoped that through the decentralisation process both the economic and governing would be brought down to the village level (Nari 2000). However, despite such plans, policies, and rhetoric about decentralization, much of the investments and large-scale developments continued to be concentrated in and around urban centers such as Honiara or Port Vila. The rapid increase in the number of migrants to urban centres such as Honiara or Port Vila or Santo outgrew the ability of these urban centres to provide adequate and quality services such as sanitation, electricity, housing, education, health, water supply etc. Consequently, there is an increase in squatter settlements around these urban centres. According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2006 it was highlighted that ‘the standard of living in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu has fallen significantly in the last decade’. One of the contributing facts is the inadequate providing of services by the State to the people, particularly those living in rural areas. This is due to “misalignment between the rural location of the majority of the population and the urban concentration of state power in central government offices” as described by White (2007: 3). The gap between the urban and rural population is extreme (World Bank, 2006). Apparently, the impact of service delivery on the rural population in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu remains a contested issue. The process of economic growth and human development in rural areas is not accelerating progressively. Availability of resources is one of the determining factors for influencing service delivery. However, due to the prevalence of corruption, public mismanagement and weak State capacity the effective utilisation of resources for effective service delivery continues to be a challenge in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In an AusAid Study Report 2004 for Solomon Islands it was pointed out that the lack of regular payment of Provincial Grants by the Government affected the capacity of Provincial Governments to provide services. This is partly due to corruption, public mismanagement 2
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. and a weak State capacity. Apart from these problems it was also highlighted in a recent 2009 ADB Report for Vanuatu that poor infrastructure, weak governance and intrusive state interventions also affect growth in the private sector. Therefore, the thinking and discussion on service delivery by the state has attracted tremendous attention in recent years. The material on service delivery in both Solomon Islands and Vanuatu could be found in two areas: 1) desk studies with a focus on the interface between governance, aid and reform generally; 2) NGO/ Donor Agency reports and consultant/academic research that focuses mainly on specific issues relating to the providers of services instead of the recipients or users of the services in order to provide broader observations necessary to influence policy undertakings. Very little research has been undertaken into either the interaction between State and rural people in terms of service delivery, or into the way in which that interaction influenced people’s perceptions about the State and political representation. In addition, the literature on the impacts of the delivery of services in sectors such as justice, education, transport, education, health and projects is quite limited. Knowledge contribution of the project This research aims to make an initial but substantive contribution to the debate on effectiveness and significance of service delivery by the State. By undertaking a comparative study of the expectations of rural people of service delivery, and attachments to views on State institutions and political representation offers an important contribution to the literature on service delivery in Melanesia. It is anticipated that the findings of this research will also contribute towards broader governance and development literature. Also by taking a comparative approach this research could also contribute towards the current reform processes undertaken in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to address issues of service delivery. This research will also assist in the identification of the problems or constraints relating to service delivery. By doing so this will contribute to the multiple points of the policy cycle: engaging in academic debate regarding the idea and philosophical assumptions of policy thinkers, presenting new data to policy planners, involving policy actors in the conduct of research as a means to engaging them in the new knowledge approach being pursued.
OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH The objectives of this research are as follows: 1. Generate detailed community level data regarding service delivery experience and quality in 5 key areas of the service: transport, health, education, justice and projects. 2. Generate detailed community level data regarding expectations and perceptions of the State, its agencies and political representation in relation to service delivery. 3. Develop an initial understanding of the main factors influencing the perceptions and expectations of ni-Vanuatu and Solomon Islanders on public service delivery in rural communities.
3
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. RESEARCH METHODS The principal research will be carried out using a standard questionnaire which permits scope for qualitative information in response to open-ended questions. The final design of this questionnaire will be arrived at through a process of small group workshopping and trial surveys in the peri urban environment of both countries’ capitals. Key research questions The key research questions which will be addressed in the surveying include: a. b. c. receive? d. e. f. g. h.
How do people frame expectations of service delivery? What are their expectations of service delivery? What is their perception of the amount and quality of services they How does it relate to their views of their political leadership? How do they value/rank different types of services? What service delivery strategies exist? How do people measure the value or quality of services they receive? To what extent do people acknowledge the services they receive?
Factors measured by the research These factors will be measured by adopting a three part approach to each broad variable (service class): 1) what services have been delivered in that class? 2) what is their reaction to this level and type of delivery 3) what aspect of this variable class would they most wish improved and why? The questionnaire then will address issues of preference and priority, using techniques that will be derived from past lead researcher experience and from the trialling and work-shopping planned for the initial stages of this research. A mixture of direct questioning, solicitations of own experience and reactions to hypothetical scenarios will all be used as appropriate. Sample selection and size A total of three sample sites will be selected during the initial inception workshop, from amongst the series presented in the table below, one from each of three provinces for each of two countries. A total of 20 men and 20 women will be surveyed from each sample site. Candidate Sites for conducting of surveys Vanuatu sites Malekula (Malampa Erromango Island (Tafea by province Province) Province) Vao area Dillon’s bay Norsup area Pongkil bay Sarmette area Port Narvian Solomon Malaita Province Ysabel Province Islands sites by Takwa area Buala area province Rohinari area Kia area Fiu area Susubona area
Efate (Shefa Province) Mangaliliu Nguna Shifiri Western Province Lale Rarumana Sasavele
Instruments Sample instruments from antecedent research conducted by Islands Knowledge Institute (IKI) form separate attachments to this form. These are provided as an indication of the 4
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. type of questionnaire that will be designed as well as demonstration of the capability of the partner organisations to provide the necessary research design inputs to successfully carry out this research project. The questionnaire trialling process will produce a standard questionnaire design which will minimise the coding load for data collaters and the data entry process. There will be space and question time dedicated to the recording of qualitative data on people’s thoughts, and training will be provided to field researchers to enable them to capture key phrases and comments by survey participants. Data analysis and processing All data will be entered into simple Excel table format and then subject to a process of quality assurance by sampling – the exact sampling rate will be determined once survey reports are handed in. Secondary data coding, if necessary will proceed and descriptive statistics and correlation measures will be produced for an initial series of statistical information releases. Full analysis of the results will be published as discussion papers to encourage discussion and comment.
EXPECTED RESULTS AND DISSEMINATION There are expected at least three classes of results from this research: a.
New knowledge in the area of expectations of state in Melanesia;
Because a focus on expectations is novel, we expect significantly new data to be returned regarding the nature of people’s expectations as well as their experiences of state service delivery. Some of this will be confirmatory of previous, anecdotal or case study derived understanding, but we also expect that there will be data uncovering new aspects of this field that are not anticipated. b.
Policy formulation and/or implementation;
There will be considerable scope for policy implications in terms of whole of government awareness of the service preferences (or lack thereof) of different communities as well as their conceptions of the state itself. This research would have a good chance of providing usable information both to line agencies as well as accountability bodies, both governmental and extra-governmental given that service delivery efficacy is implicitly assumed to be a prime motivation in accountability demands. c.
Methodological development in the field of inquiry.
The trialling and work-shopping phases together with the full scale survey rollout offers a unique opportunity for students and local researchers to observe the development and implementation of a unique research approach for the subregion. In doing so, it can be expected that a great deal of methodological insight will be availed by the process of data gathering but especially reflections on the data gathering process. Dissemination This research is intended to engage with the national policy community in each country throughout the life-cycle of the project, by inviting voluntary involvement of interested stakeholders in discussions and workshopping at the outset, and updating them via a post-survey workshop and finally appraising them of key outcomes and results at the end of the project. It is intended that extensive use of a blog and of online discussion papers be also pursued, as part of an information dissemination campaign throughout the project. Finally, the third level of processing will be summarised in a paper targeted at the 5
October 4, 2009
IKI Project Brief Social service expectations and perceptions in Vanuatu and Solomon Islands: a comparative exploration of bases for social contract in the modern Melanesian state. peer reviewed publication process. The research mentor will have key inputs in facilitating this final step of research dissemination.
6
October 4, 2009
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