Mining 19: Rule of Men, Not Weak State

In most free market literatures, a very important concept is the "rule of law" to mean that the law, rules and regulations apply to all players and citizens. The opposite is the "rule of men", meaning that government administrators and leaders selectively apply the law to certain people while others are exempted from the restrictions and punishments of those laws.

The term "weak state" is heard more in academic discourses on political economy. As the term implies, it is an opposite of a "strong state".

A friend for more than a decade now, F. Kennedy Coronel, aka "Citizen Kori" in our frequent discussions and debates in pilipinasforum yahoogroups early of last decade (no facebook, no twitter or youtube then), made a presentation during the Mining Conference 2012, and I am making some quick comments in his paper below.

As a backgrounder, here are some of the papers of Citizen Kori some 12 years ago, posted in this blog:

Counting the Cost of Corruption in the Philippines, June 29, 2001
Discussion on the Church and Galileo, July 25, 2001
On the Nature of Government: Some Commentaries on Governance in Crisis, October 21, 2001.

Ok, here is Citizen Kori's presentation last year. The full 29-slides powerpoint is found here.

The meaning of a "weak state", he adapted Alex Magno's definition,

• “porous to vested interests, powerful lobbies and populist constituencies. . .

• “Its policies shaped by short‐term interests rather than long‐term good, by particular benefits rather than the larger welfare 

• “transactional…responds to particularistic political stimulus from specific constituencies… 

• “vulnerable to political accommodation, compromising the integrity of policies to suit immediate contingencies…that are insistently noisy rather than ideas that are fundamentally sound”‐ A. Magno, 2012

As I discussed above, these characteristics refer more to the "rule of men" and not "rule of law." State leaders allow certain exemptions to the restrictions of the laws, very often to their families and friends,   political allies, supporters and financiers. For non-friends or non-allies of state administrators, the restrictions of the laws fully apply, woe unto them.

A corollary to the "weak state" is the weak regulatory capability, defined by Kori as:

• "Complex regulatory regime… highly informal which influences lack of transparency, accountability, and increases legal and policy uncertainty and regulatory overlap and conflict, thus reinforcing the poor performance of the regime.” -- Dr. Vl dao Vi lvoa  

• Regulatory agencies have limited budget, personnel and equipment; EO 366 imposes limits to hiring by agencies, Regulatory agencies losing people to the private sector.

• MGB needs to hire technical staff.

The term "orphan industry" means it is an industry that has no political parents, populist politicians do not want to be associated with being too friendly with or supportive of, large-scale corporate mining.

Then he discussed the uncertainties in the sector, and the new opportunities.

Pol. Ideology 21: The Nature of Government

This paper was written by a good friend, Ed Coronel or "Citizen Kori" 10 years ago, and posted in the MG yahoogroups. Great ideas from Kori and should help clarify more issues on why we need (and not need) government on certain sectors and issues.
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On the Nature of Government:
Some Commentaries on Governance in Crisis

F. Kennedy Coronel
24 October 2001

Introduction

This paper has been prepared in response to a serious query if it is at all possible to completely "privatize" government. Debilitating problems of government, as well as issues on governance has led a number of private citizens to venture that perhaps market mechanisms are better means of delivering public goods. The question is not at all novel, as this has been posed even by classical thinkers.

What is perhaps new is the global setting that we find ourselves today. What you see around you is a phenomenon i'd like to call as a return of "hunting-gathering" societies. More powerful, perhaps more desperate, nations prey upon those less able to defend themselves. This predatory nature is reflected in the capital markets, global trade, human migration, and of course military conflict.

The very nature of an efficient market is predatory, the mechanism hunts the weak and the slow. Why, it's even natural-selectionist. If perhaps man does not have the faculty of choice, reason and aspiration, the market is the perfect mechanism as one would see among lesser mammals.

But the institutions that man has built indicate he is far removed from the world of animals, even if he does exhibit some of the instincts and tendencies. But then again, criticisms on government may use metaphors similar to feature stories in the National Geographic channel.

That government has been failing, albeit others seem to be succeeding elsewhere, does not negate the reality that government is necessary. Perhaps the issue is how much or how less of government do we want. But what we want we do not always get. What is necessary does not always turn out as we expect. One learns to live with what is available. But the beauty, value, importance of what is available is up to us. One can look at what is available as used clothing, or as vintage wine. Our perspective determines to a large extent the happiness or contentment that we get.