PALESTINIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: ISSUES OF LEGAL AND INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS

Feras Ali Qawasmeh; Kuppusamy Singaravelloo; Raja Noriza Raja Ariffin

doi:10.17323/1999-5431-2021-0-6-146-171

Feras Ali Qawasmeh 1PhD of Public Administration, Department of Administration and Politics, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Chief Editor in the Department of Israeli Settlements at the Vision Centre for Political Development, Istanbul- Turkey, University of Malaya, Jln Profesor Diraja Ungku Aziz, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuppusamy Singaravelloo Associate Professor, Department of Administrative Studies and Politics, Faculty of Economics & Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, University of Malaya, Jln Profesor Diraja Ungku Aziz, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Raja Noriza Raja Ariffin 3Associate Professor, Department of Administrative Studies and Politics, Faculty of Economics & Administration; and Deputy Director, International Institute of Public Policy and Management, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, University of Malaya, Jln Profesor Diraja Ungku Aziz, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17323/1999-5431-2021-0-6-146-171

Keywords: local government, administrative, legal, structure, fragmentation, public choice, Palestine

Abstract

In the public administration field, the legislative, executive and judicial frameworks should be consistent. The institutional framework of the Palestinian local government, however, seems largely impacted by an incoherent legal framework. Against this backdrop, this study describes the current local government institutional framework. Secondly, this study investigates the current issues relating to the legal and institutional frameworks of the Palestinian local government.

A qualitative research approach was adopted to collect data in order to achieve the objectives of the study. The present research utilizes a combination of primary and secondary data. Nine interviews were conducted to gather the primary data, while scholarly works and government documents were used for gathering secondary data.

The results show that fully governmental institutions are the most active within the institutional framework while non-governmental institutions are less active. The results also show that the primary obstacle for an efficient legal framework is due to previous laws, overlapping powers and weak legal practices. Furthermore, the institutional framework suffers from deformed structure and weak integration.

The discussion section revealed that the current local government system can be best described as a “Chaotic Hybrid System”. When comparing the empirical results with the theoretical concepts, it is indicated that the current local government structure reflects the Public Choice Theory perspective, which advocates for horizontal and vertical fragmentation. However, the Israeli occupation and international funds seem to contribute to complicating the fragmentation of the structure. The structure hence could be described as “Altered Fragmented Structure”.

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