Countries in Southeast Asia in the 21st century are both dependent on China when it comes to economic affairs such as trade, but also infrastructure investment. At the same time, these countries...Show moreCountries in Southeast Asia in the 21st century are both dependent on China when it comes to economic affairs such as trade, but also infrastructure investment. At the same time, these countries are in conflict with China, about the South China Sea, in which China claims a bigger part of this sea than Southeast Asia would like. This thesis discusses the following research question: Why do Southeast Asian countries maintain Chinese infrastructure investments despite the territorial dispute about the South China Sea?Show less
“The idea of microfinance emerged around the 1970s as a revolutionary new way to alleviate poverty in developing countries. Microfinance delivers financial services – such as loans and saving...Show more“The idea of microfinance emerged around the 1970s as a revolutionary new way to alleviate poverty in developing countries. Microfinance delivers financial services – such as loans and saving services – to the poor, who are traditionally financially excluded from conventional financial institutions. However, the debate whether the efforts of MFIs have been successful is almost just as old as the concept itself, and the results remain ambiguous. This thesis aims to add to the extensive body of literature by providing an in-depth comparative case study of the experiences and effects of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Thailand and Indonesia. The research is focused on poverty alleviation in two key areas, (i.) household income generation and (ii.) household asset building. The hypothesis is that although MFI provides great opportunities for people in lower-income classes to access credit, it has done little to practically alleviate poverty in Thailand and Indonesia. In the final analysis, this thesis will argue that this hypothesis is false, and argues that microfinance institutions in Thailand and Indonesia have been effective in increasing household income and therefore poverty alleviation. However, the effect of microfinance on asset building is ambiguous. Therefore, the study revealed that the effect of microfinance on asset building for poor households should be further studied.” Key words: microfinance; poverty alleviation; Village Fund program; Islamic microfinance; Thailand; Indonesia.Show less
In 2020, the Indonesian government entered a new type of social contract with the citizens whereby the government situated itself as a major player of social welfare provision in the daily lives in...Show moreIn 2020, the Indonesian government entered a new type of social contract with the citizens whereby the government situated itself as a major player of social welfare provision in the daily lives in Indonesia. JKN is an ambitious project of universal health coverage that, in legislation, allows Indonesians to receive healthcare coverage at no cost or substantially lower prices than before. Despite promising affordable and effective health insurance, the Indonesian healthcare regime remains beset by the persistence of healthcare inequality, affordability, inaccessible access to care, and insufficient qualify of service provision. Fundamentally, this paper argues JKN has not substantially led to effective increases in public health due to the lack of attention paid to service provision aspects of the healthcare regime. Here, JKN has increased the demand for care, but not increase the supply of access to care nor quality of care.Show less
In recent years, remittances, the sum of money sent by migrant workers to families back home, have emerged as the major source of external development finance. In 2007, remittances from migrant...Show moreIn recent years, remittances, the sum of money sent by migrant workers to families back home, have emerged as the major source of external development finance. In 2007, remittances from migrant workers doubled the size of Direct Foreign Aid and in 2017 migrant sending countries received over US$450 billion, 10 times more than what they’ve received 20 years earlier. Despite the wide range of studies conducted on the monetary effects of labour migration and remittances through the neoclassical immigration theory lenses, which claims that international migration “is a win-win situation”, less attention is drawn onto the moral hazard problem and the culture of dependency that the same issues bring about. Guided by the research question: What are the effects of Overseas Filipino Workers’ remittances on public service provision in the Philippines? My research aims to engage the reader into a critical re-thinking process of the nature of migration and remittances. I wish to argue that it is pivotal to consider the wider concept of labor migration and the burden relegated by migrant-sending governments to “their” citizens on the move. If remittances “do the job”, what is the role of the State? Is it the diaspora's to provide for their country? The underlying scope of the thesis is to test whether skepticists' speculations that remittances “are not a panacea” but rather a strategy for governments to decrease their accountability towards their citizens and ultimately to evaluate whether the public moral hazard problem holds to the Philippine case too.Show less
In the early 1990s, the UN intervened in Cambodia in order to democratise the country. Since then Cambodia has adopted more democratic institutions. Although the country became more democratic in...Show moreIn the early 1990s, the UN intervened in Cambodia in order to democratise the country. Since then Cambodia has adopted more democratic institutions. Although the country became more democratic in official terms, the country largely operates outside of accepted democratic values. The aim of this paper is therefore to find out to what extent Cambodia can be considered a democracy. Focussing on the indicators of democratisation and de-democratisation processes (breadth, equality, protection, and mutually binding consultation), it becomes clear that Cambodia has been experiencing a process of de-democratisation. At the same time, the ruling party managed to increase its state capacity. This has been a necessary tool for the party to stay in power. Acknowledging that high state capacity can contribute to democratisation processes, it is surprising that high state capacity and democratisation do not seem to go hand in hand in the Cambodian case. The form of state capacity is therefore an important aspect. Focussing on Cambodia, it soon becomes clear that the country deviates from the Western standard. Cambodian politics and economics are centred around patronage and neopatrimonialism. This has been the main reason why efforts towards democratisation have failed in Cambodia and why an authoritarian regime remains in power.Show less
This thesis explores how Jakarta's Merdeka Square acts as a contested public space where both state institutions and society groups have contended with the idea of a pluralistic Indonesian society...Show moreThis thesis explores how Jakarta's Merdeka Square acts as a contested public space where both state institutions and society groups have contended with the idea of a pluralistic Indonesian society during the months preceding the 2017 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election.Show less
The purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between Islamisation and democratisation in democratic Malaysia post-independence. It seeks to answer the research question ‘How do changes...Show moreThe purpose of this study is to analyse the relationship between Islamisation and democratisation in democratic Malaysia post-independence. It seeks to answer the research question ‘How do changes in the Islamic political landscape help shape Malaysian democracy?’ The analysis is threefold: the study focuses on political society, female representation in Malaysian politics and the role of civil society in promoting political Islam.Show less
This paper set out to examine how successful ASEAN was in making its regional governance more inclusive and “people-oriented”, as aimed for in its charter. This rhetorical shift towards greater...Show moreThis paper set out to examine how successful ASEAN was in making its regional governance more inclusive and “people-oriented”, as aimed for in its charter. This rhetorical shift towards greater people empowerment can be seen as a response to such external pressures as the rising civil society, international normative pressures as well as diminishing credibility due the regional challenges faced in the 90s, an attempt to regain ground domestically as well as internationally. It must be acknowledged that by adopting rhetoric of people empowerment slow but steady successes have been achieved. Notwithstanding the progress and benefits ASEAN’s change of course and following interactions have brought, in reality rhetoric is decoupled from ASEAN’s political practices. While attempting to regain ground, the association’s intergovernmental nature and on-going tensions between more and less democratic member states prevented it from actually embracing this course. Despite its expressed goals, ASEAN has so far failed to establish clear formal interfaces for the interaction with civil society. The conflict between the principle of sovereignty and the clear advantages of adhering to global trends and domestic pressures towards integration and democratisation that ASEAN faces is important to understand this discrepancy between expressed aspirations and political reality. Within ASEAN, ever increasing regional economic integration in the region stood in contrast with nationalistic sentiments and socio-economic developmental pressures. Indeed, existent consultations with civil society seem largely to be aimed at giving greater legitimacy to the charter- that ultimately only consolidated ASEAN’s state-centred nature. Facing competing institutional logics of the more democratic and traditionally more illiberal or even authoritarian member states, a situation of institutional complexity, decoupling rhetoric from practice enabled maintenance of the stability of the ASEAN community while retaining organisational efficiency. The association remains largely inaccessible to those rendered unsuitable to its reform agenda, making it not “people-oriented”.Show less
After over ninety years of British domination and a bloody partition a new Indian nation emerged. Largely agricultural, with a rural and highly diverse population it was the task of the architects...Show moreAfter over ninety years of British domination and a bloody partition a new Indian nation emerged. Largely agricultural, with a rural and highly diverse population it was the task of the architects of what would become a united India to draft a constitution which would allow these different peoples to live together. Perhaps afraid of further separation but also aware of the need for unity in diversity the Constitution of India was attributed a federal, but also a centrist character. Due to the economic backwardness and political fragmentation it was a commonly held belief at the time that rule by the centre was the best way to improve the whole country’s welfare. Yet less than fifty years later this view has fundamentally changed. The balance of payments crisis showed that India’s development and future economic prosperity lay not in the distribution of investment from the centre to the states but in the active role of states on the global market. As a consequence of this the states have been given or have taken on a larger role in economic development. The question that this thesis will answer is: in what aspects has the liberalisation of the Indian economy changed the relationship between the centre and the state?Show less
