State Building in Cambodia by Say SOK MA in Political Science B.Ed. in English Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University August, 2012 In memory of my late mother, Gek Cheng EA, who valued knowledge, education and perseverance. Abstract This study examines the factors affecting Cambodian state capacity since 1993 with illustrations from the fisheries and inundated forest subsectors. These two subsectors are used as an illustration due to their socio-economic and economic values and the limited state capacity to manage them. Based on primary and secondary documents and field interviews in Phnom Penh and two provinces around the Tonle Sap Lake with ninety-four key stakeholders, namely, fisheries officials, NGO officers, researchers, local authorities, community fisheries committees, lot concessionaires and operators and common fishers, it investigates the relations between the fragmentation of social control; limited state autonomy; limited Weberian state structure; weak civil society and state-society relations; a quest for internal political legitimacy, and impacts from donors’ assistance on Cambodian state capacity. Besides proving that the state capacity (penetration, regulation, extraction, appropriation, policy and legislation, midwifery and husbandry) in general and that of the subsectors in particular has been limited, albeit variable and improving, this research finds that the six factors above have an overall negative impact on Cambodian state capacity. On the theoretical front, this study locates the limited state capacity within the context of the post-communist electoral legitimacy where a dominant ruling party dominates and where there are less functional but politicized state apparatus and poor interactions amongst and within them, strong ego-centered social forces, less capable civil society and poorly engaging state-society relations, and limited meaningful engagement between donors and between donors and Cambodian state agencies. i Acknowledgements Undertaking this PhD has been a challenge. Yet, it is also an enlightening and delighting journey. Many people and institutions have assisted me throughout the entire quest for this enlightenment, and I have thus owed my gratitude to them. I must first thank Deakin University for the scholarship and other assistance schemes, without which this study is impossible. Also, I really appreciate Deakin’s staff I have contacted for their swift assistance on administrative and academic affairs. They all are really wonderful. My supervisory committee deserves special thanks for their comments on the research proposal and penultimate draft. I owe my main supervisor, Professor Damien Kingsbury, special gratitude for his sustained guidance and inputs, patience, quick responses and understanding. I have gained tremendously from his knowledge, insights, supervision and encouragement throughout the project cycle and from the freedom of pace and thoughts he permits. I can say with no reservation that he is one of the best supervisors I have ever had. This project would not have been completed without support from my extended family and best friends. I owe my late parents, Eng Kiet Tea and Gek Cheng Ea, special reverence and gratefulness for giving me life, raising me up and supporting me. This PhD project was a childhood dream and it was my beloved mum who first sparked my interest in higher education through her desire for me to achieve the ‘highest academic qualification’. And this has motivated me to work my way to this PhD project. I have also been supported by some siblings, especially my lovely sister, Por Hung Tea, after mum passed away in 1997. I thus take this opportunity to thank them for parenting me in mum’s absence. This project has been made much easier and less stressful thanks to my dear wife, Sophourn Ep. I could not imagine how hard it could have been if I had undertaken this journey without her by my side. Her company, endurance, encouragement and understanding have been an invaluable aspiration. Her trust in me and the supportive atmosphere she has created have always inspired me to do my utmost best. Therefore, I must thank her for making this project more entertaining and less onerous, and I dedicate this thesis to her. I would also like to express my gratitude to my parents-in-law, Nhil Ep and Kimhum Sek, for their love, warmness and care. I have been very fortunate that they both come into my life. The fieldwork was made more pleasant due to the homely atmosphere they offered. My other in-laws and nieces and nephews deserve thanks for lightening up my days and supporting me every possible way they could. I am thankful to a circle of my best friends, including Sivhuoch Ou, Vicheth Sen, Ratana Som, Pokun Meng, Rotha Chan, Bandol Teav, Chanhang Saing, Kimlong Chheng and Rosa Yi, who are a source of encouragement and support. Some have also shared good documents I have used in this thesis. I must extend my ii appreciation to Rotha Kong, Virak Kruy, Om Khem, Borin and Mao Ouk for sharing some documents or network building. My gratitude also goes to van Acker Frank and Sithirith Mak for the permission to use their unpublished documents. Ron Jones deserves an orkun for cleaning the language use of the penultimate draft. Last but not least, this study could not have conceived without the information shared by all informants, some of whom also assisted with networking and provided me with invaluable documents. I am indebted to them all for their kind help, though I cannot name each individual here given the anonymity requirement. To some, I share their hope for and commitment to a better Cambodia and natural resources management. To the others, I share their frustration and despair. But I believe we all share one dream: Making Cambodia a better place for all. I am more than privileged to befriend some of them, and I really treasure the friendship. iii ABSTRACT I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II LIST OF TABLES VIII LIST OF FIGURES IX LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS X GLOSSARY OF KHMER WORDS XIV CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1. The Importance of This Field to Understanding Cambodian State Development 1 2. Research Aim 2 3. Contextual Background to Fisheries and Forest Management 2 4. Research Methodology 8 4.1. Research Design 8 4.2. Data Collection Methods 8 4.3. Research Sites 8 4.4. Sampling Techniques 8 4.5. Sample Size 9 5. What This Study Covers 9 6. Paper Outline 9 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10 1. Literature on State Capacity 10 2. Literature Review on Cambodian Politics and State 17 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ON STATE CAPACITY 23 1. State Capacity Measurement 23 2. Factors Affecting State Capacity 24 2.1. Fragmentation of Social Control 24 2.2. Society and State-Society Relations 25 2.3. State Autonomy 28 2.4. State Structure and Resources 31 2.5. The Quest for Internal Political Legitimacy 34 iv 2.6. Contribution from External Development Partners 39 CHAPTER 4: MEASURING CAMBODIAN STATE CAPACITY (1) 41 1. Cambodian State Capacity and Institutional Capability 41 2. Penetration Capacity 42 2.1. Civil Servant-Population Ratio 42 2.2. DoF/FiA Civil Servant Distribution 44 3. Appropriation 47 3.1. Financial Resource Allocation and Disbursement 48 3.2. Fishing Area Distribution and Resource Conservation 52 3.3. Resource Re-Concentration and Unsustainable Exploitation 56 4. Regulation Capacity 59 4.1. Crackdowns on Illegal Fishing and Forest Clearance 59 4.2. Legal Gears with Illegality 63 4.3. Fishing Lots – A Pandora’s Box 65 5. Extraction Capacity 70 5.1. State Revenue Collection 70 5.2. Extraction Capacity in the Fisheries Subsector 73 5.3. Lot Concessionaires’ Benefits 76 CHAPTER 5: MEASURING CAMBODIAN STATE CAPACITY (2) 80 1. Legislation and Policy Capacity 80 1.1. Evolution of Policy and Legislation Capacity 80 1.2. Formulation Capacity 84 1.3. Implementation Capacity 87 2. Midwifery and Husbandry 88 2.1. Peace and Political Stability 88 2.2. Public Private Sector Forum 89 2.3. Business Facilitation 91 2.4. CFC Assistance 91 2.5. Research and Development 97 CHAPTER 6: FRAGMENTATION OF SOCIAL CONTROL 101 1. The Khmer Rouge and State Debility 101 2. Small and Medium Scale Fishers 102 3. From No Representation to Pseudo-Representation? 108 4. Fishing Lots – An impediment to State Capacity 113 v CHAPTER 7: SOCIETY AND STATE-SOCIETY RELATIONS 131 1. Evolution of Society and State-Society Relations at a Glance 131 2. NGOs in Cambodia 133 2.1. NGOs’ Contributions to Capacity Building 133 2.2. Factors Limiting NGOs’ Community Capacity Enhancement 137 2.3. NGO-State Relations 144 3. Community Fisheries and Their Committees 151 3.1. Strength of CFis and CFCs 151 3.2. CFCs’ Weaknesses in Resource Management 153 3.3. CFi and CFC Relations with the State 161 4. Fishing Lot Association? 165 CHAPTER 8: STATE AUTONOMY 168 1. The Invisible Hands 169 2. Capture of State Apparatus 174 2.1. Capture of Fisheries Officials 179 2.2. Capture of Local Authorities 182 2.3. Capture of the Armed Forces 189 2.4. Capture of the Courts 194 3. The Checks and Balances of State Institutions 198 CHAPTER 9: STATE STRUCTURE AND RESOURCES 202 1. The State Structure Development at a Glance 202 2. Hindrance to DoF/FiA Institutional Capabilities 205 2.1. Dysfunctional Public Administration 205 2.2. Limited Capable Human Resources 207 2.3. Poor Internal Organizational Structure and Interactions 213 2.4. Power Centralization and Unclear Responsibility Division 215 2.5. Poor Career Path Setting 219 2.6. Poor Remuneration and Limited Financial and Material Resources 223 3. Hindrance to Local Governments’ Institutional Capabilities 228 4. They Do Their Tasks and We Do Ours 231 CHAPTER 10: THE QUEST FOR INTERNAL POLITICAL LEGITIMACY 239 1.