References

178 Alta Fölscher

groups,and government officials) in all villages.Their purpose was to identify local problems,suggest remedies,and provide a prioritized list ofprojects to the subdistrict or TAO civic forum committee.

The TAO-level civic forum committee includes 100 members,including representatives ofthe village forums.Its task is to make tradeoffs between the projects that villages propose and submit its recommendations to the chair ofthe Suan Mon TAO.The TAO provides a standardized planning framework and formats to all village civic forum committees.Meetings are held in the evening,so that most villagers can attend.The villages’civic culture facilitates the quality ofdeliberation (Suwanmala 2004).

The regular budget preparation process starts after the civic forum processes:the civic forum’s proposals are included in the local annual budget plan and adopted unchanged by the TAO council.The final budget and development plan is then sent back to the village civic forum committees so that they can monitor project implementation.

In the first years,the TAO undertook capacity-building programs in the 14 villages.It took some time for villages to learn to trust one another and allow tradeoffs to be made between villages.This effort was supported by the TAO chiefofficer,who played a key mediating role and kept promises to roll over priorities to subsequent years.

In addition to solving the long-term negative impact ofpork-barreled budgeting and increasing participation in a meaningful way,the revised budget process has had a positive impact on own revenues,as village leaders now take an active interest in tax collection,finding defaulters and convincing them to pay taxes in order to increase revenue available for projects. Village leaders and citizens also take an active interest in project implementation,making the TAO more accountable (Suwanmala 2004).

Initiatives that Give Local Communities Control over Funds

In Indonesia local communities have established village councils and development forums that exercise full control over the allocation and use of the block grant to the village.The Kecamatan Development Program (KDP) targets the poorest kecamatans (subdistricts) in Indonesia.It aims to foster more democratic and participatory forms oflocal governance by strengthening kecamatan and village capacities and improving community participation in development projects.The project covers 30 percent ofvillages at this level,touching the lives of10 million people.It is supported by facilitators and consultants at both the village and national levels who provide technical support and training.