The Specific Allocation Fund (Dak): Mechanisms and Uses

Research team smeru: syaikhu usman, m. sulton mawardi, adri poesoro, asep suryahadi griffith university: charles sampford translator: kate weatherley editor: budhi adrianto abstract this study aims to analyze the management of the specific allocation fund (dak). the three largest dak-recipient sectors are the focus of the study: education, health, and roads infrastructure. the study sample areas are four districts. this paper was compiled based on the results of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with various stakeholders as well as analysis of dak policy and secondary data. the main objective of dak is to reduce interregional inequalities in public services. we came across policies in dire need of national uniformity but that still allow variation on some aspects. conversely, we found some enforced national uniformity in policies that should have provided rooms for variations to accommodate regional specific conditions. in practice, regional governments have become passive recipients of dak grants. the attitudes of regional government towards the dak allocation process indicate a general feeling that the central government is not transparent. furthermore, it is evident that coordination and communication surrounding dak management between agencies are still limited. based on the above findings, we recommend a new paradigm where the central government is suggested to decentralize the authority for the allocation, coordination, and monitoring of district/city use of dak to provincial governments. keywords: specific allocation fund, education, health, roads infrastructure, new paradig

Evolving norms of protection: China, Libya and the problem of intervention in armed conflict

This article examines the influence of civilian protection norms on China’s response to the 2011 crisis in Libya. It argues that Responsibility to Protect—an emerging norm commonly associated with the Libyan case—did not play a major role in China’s abstention on Resolution 1973 (2011) authorizing international intervention in Libya. For China, Responsibility to Protect is merely a concept and could not serve as the basis for intervention. Instead, Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict, as a normative foundation for civilian protection endorsed by China, offers a more appropriate lens for understanding China’s vote. Protection of Civilians, however, does not accommodate China’s unprecedented evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya. This operation proceeded from a third logic of Protection of Nationals Abroad, which poses dilemmas for China’s strict adherence to the principles of sovereignty and non-interference and brings to bear domestic interests and notions of protection

Management organisation and ethics in the public sector /

Over the past two decades in Australia and other developed nations, public sector management philosophies and how the public sector is organised have changed dramatically. At the same time, there have been many demands, and several attempts, to preserve and promote ethical behaviour within the public sector - though few go much beyond the publication of a Code. Both developments require an understanding of how public organisations operate in this new environment. Organisational and management theory are seen as providing important potential insights into the opportunities and pitfalls for building ethics into the practices, culture, and norms of public organisations. This book brings together the experience and research of a range of 'reflective practitioners' and 'engaged academics' in public sector management, organisational theory, management theory, public sector ethics and law. It addresses what management and organisation theory might suggest about the nature of public organisations and the institutionalisation of ethics