Networks and Nodes: The Governance of Constituency Development Funds in Gizo/Kolombangara and Baegu/Asifola, Solomon Islands

Abstract

In Solomon Islands, constituency development funds (CDFs) are public money. These funds are allocated to and distributed by members of parliament (MPs) in order to facilitate economic development across constituencies. They were ostensibly introduced in order to over-come the problem that when public funds are channelled through line ministries, they do not reach, nor facilitate economic development at, the local-village level. However, CDFs have been open to exactly the sort of exploitation and manipulation that the bureaucratic structures of the state are designed to prevent. There has been considerable criticism of the regulation of CDFs, but to date the critique has largely focused on state actors and state regulation. This has led to a problematically circular argument - state regulation, dependent upon state bureaucratic capacity, is required to fix problems caused by lack of state bureaucratic capacity. Drawing upon understandings of nodal governance, this thesis enquires whether all the regulation of CDFs occurs at the state level, or whether there is regulation that also occurs below the level of the state. It develops two detailed empirical case studies that show the multiple scales of regulation of CDFs in two constituencies in Solomon Islands: Gizo/Kolombangara in Western Province and Baegu/Asifola in Malaita Province. The thesis shows that there are many different types of regulatory actors involved, and that the overall regulatory system is influenced by the relationships that exist between them. Through a comparison between the two constituencies, it also shows the enormous variety in regulatory structures that exist at very local levels in Solomon Islands. This both complicates a vision of regulation that is based on the state, but also provides potential opportunities for interventions to strengthen accountability and transparency through going beyond the state. Among other findings, this thesis illustrates the need to look below and above the state in understanding how regulation does and can occur. It suggests that more collaboration between state actors, non-state actors and international actors in the regulation and governance of CDFs in Solomon Islands may strengthen the regulatory system around CDFs.