ABSTRACT

Dealing with a concrete country example in a more holistic manner can serve to demonstrate the concept of functional assignment and its application, highlighting pitfalls and shortcomings. The author describes functional assignment using four concrete country cases: Cambodia, the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, Indonesia and the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The case of Cambodia is particularly interesting since the government has sought to learn from previous experiences in functional assignment elsewhere, and has put in place perhaps most rigorous methodology and process of any country. Himachal Pradesh was one of the first states to introduce state legislation following the 73rd Amendment. The case of Indonesia is of particular interest as it has a strong tradition of centralization of power and of preferring hierarchies in social and political relations. Compared with Cambodia and Indonesia, it is noteworthy how little public debate has taken place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on functional assignment.