Can Top-Down and Bottom-Up be Reconciled? Electoral Competition and Service Delivery in Malaysia

Top-down versus bottom-up is one of development’s enduring tensions, not least in public service delivery. In Malaysia, public services have traditionally been animated from the top down. Bottom-up forces in civil society have strengthened recently, but so too have top-down forces, and their impact...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World development 2012-11, Vol.40 (11), p.2329-2341
Main Author: Mccourt, Willy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
civic engagement
Civil society
Democracy
Development
Elections
Electoral behaviour
Malaysia
New Public Management
participation
Politicians
Public administration
Public services
Social change
South-East Asia
Southeast Asia
Studies
Voter behavior
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Summary:Top-down versus bottom-up is one of development’s enduring tensions, not least in public service delivery. In Malaysia, public services have traditionally been animated from the top down. Bottom-up forces in civil society have strengthened recently, but so too have top-down forces, and their impact on public services is greater. Malaysia’s experience suggests that where electoral competition gives politicians an incentive to respond to voters’ service preferences, top-down initiatives have the greater potential for large-scale social change. Participatory initiatives will be most effective when they play a supplementary role.
ISSN:0305-750X
1873-5991
DOI:10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.03.023