This Thesis is concerned with multilevel and multi-sector forest governance in the Malaysian State of Sabah. It begins by amending the theory of vertical institutional interplay by applying constructivist and historical new institutional theoretical approaches, which contrasts with the more static theoretical foundations that have characterised study of this area to date. It then develops an analytical framework that uses policy frame analysis. This is designed to apply this new theoretical approach to the empirical context of Sabah. This framework analyses empirical subject through three stages. The first stage investigates the development of forest governance institutions at the global level and the state level within Sabah. The second stage then considers how the intersection of these developments, specifically focusing on role of ideas, discourse and agency, created the impetus for new policy initiatives in two local-level empirical examples. The third stage then considers the extent to which these initiatives were successful in institutionalising new forest conservation practices, or conversely how they were impeded by state level historical institutional continuities. The findings of this Thesis differentiate two forms of vertical institutional interplay. The first is the way global institutions affect state level ones where key actors mobilise ideas and discourses to in order to shift the direction of policy and initiate institutional change. The second is where the influence of global institutions is blocked by barriers created by long term historic institutional legacies that have shaped state level institutions. These findings show that vertical institutional interplay has initiated a partial shift in forest institutions and policy in Sabah. This shift varies between different locations according to the relative influence of these two forms of institutional interplay, and has created more dynamism and uncertainty in Sabah’s forest governance institutions. This Thesis contributes to existing literature through its ability to better conceptualise the role of vertical institutional interplay in a way that can account for the tension between the fixed and dynamic aspects of institutions. This contrasts to older approaches that have focused largely on the fixed aspects of institutions. The contribution is also demonstrated in the way this theoretical approach is able to better conceptualise fine grain variations in these dynamics at a local level of scale.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:646318 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Bloor, Richard |
| Publisher | Cardiff University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://orca.cf.ac.uk/73239/ |
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