Written By: Muhammad Dayyan, M.Ec
Abstract
Governments provide a host of goods and services to their citizens
to achieve various socio-economic objectives. Such spending is done through
various programs that include social security, education, infrastructure,
healthcare and economic programs. Several conventional approaches for measuring
efficiency of government expenditure have been proposed in the literature. Most
of these measures are quantitative in nature. For government spending based on
Shari’ah oriented public policy (al-Siyasah al-Shar’iyyah), which is value
loaded, there is a need for a complementary qualitative yardstick to measure
whether such spending achieves Maqasid al-Shari’ah. The present study has made
use of content analysis to develop a Maqasid Performance Pairwise Matrix
(MPPM), as one of the tools of Islamic oriented public policy (al-Siyasah
al-Shar’iyyah); this is to measure the public perception on government
expenditure in eight areas in Aceh and the extent to which the expenditure
conforms to Maqasid al-Shari’ah. MPPM was used as an instrument to survey 233
respondents in Aceh. The data from the survey were validated analyzed using
SPSS version 18.0. The findings from the study were found to be mixed.
Government spending in Aceh for Education and Healthcare achieved results at
the level of Complements (Hajiyat), beyond the basic need (Daruriyat). However,
in the other six areas, which include economics, public services and housing,
government spending was only able to satisfy the basic needs of the Acehnese.
The study concludes with recommendations and suggestions for future research.
Keyword: Government
expenditure, Maqasid al-Shari’ah, Maqasid Performance Pairwise Matrix (MPPM),
public perception and al-Siyasah al-Shar’iyyah
1. INTRODUCTION
Governments
provide a host of goods and services to their citizens to achieve various
socio-economic objectives. Such spending is done through various programs that
include social security, education, infrastructure development, healthcare and
economic programs. Of great importance, however, is the extent to which this
spending is effective. Several conventional approaches for measuring the efficiency
of government expenditure have been proposed in the literature. Most of these
measures are quantitative in nature. Even Muslim countries have adopted these
approaches to measure their efficiency of public spending. Such measures however,
without addressing the qualitative aspect of government spending, can create a
mismatch between the spending and the results, especially in countries that
claim to factor ethics in their spending behavior such as the case in Aceh,
which applies the Shari’ah principles in its administration.
The
government of Aceh was granted special authority by the Indonesian legislature since 2006 for self-governance based on Islamic
principles in all aspects of life. Since then, the Acehnese have put high
expectations on the Aceh Government. These expectationsincludes conducting
public expenditure based on the spirit of the Shari’ah especially since the
revenue in Aceh Province has risen dramaticallyfrom less than Rp 11 trillion in
2006 to almost Rp 20 trillion in 2012.While the Aceh government perceives itself as running
its affairs based on Shari’ah, it would be interesting to examine whether the
public sharesthe same perception and whether the government spending is able to
achieve the objectives of Shari’ah (al-Maqasid).
The extant
literature uses conventional performance yardstick to measure the effectiveness
of government spending. Such yardsticks however can mostly only measure the quantitative aspect ofgovernment spending. Needless
to say, government spending based on shari’ah oriented public policy (al-Siyasah
al-Shar’iyyah) also has qualitative ethical dimensions. Measuring these
qualitative dimensions, along with the quantitative measures will provide a
holistic picture of the efficiency of government spendings. Unfortunately, there is hardly anyexhaustive
literature that has developed an instrument capable of measuring the
qualitative aspects of such spending.Hence, the present study makes use of literature survey and
content analysis to develop a Maqasid Performance PairwiseMatrix (MPPM), as one
of the tools of Islamic oriented public policy (al-Siyasah al-Shar’iyyah); this
is to measure the public perception on the extent to which government
expenditure in Aceh conforms to Maqasid al-Shari’ah.
2.
Government
Spending
In public policy implementation, governments are responsible for
providing a host of goods and services for their citizens in order to achieve
various socio-economic objectives. Such policies could be done through various publicly
funded programs that stated before, include but are not limited to social
security, education, infrastructure development, healthcare services, and
economic development. These duties involve raising the public expenditure and
spending them on public goods to satisfy the collective social needs of the
people.
Pigou (1960) classified these as transfer and non-transfer
expenditure. Transfer expenditure relates to the expenditures against which
there are no corresponding returns. Such expenditure includes public spending
on national old age pension schemes, interest payments, subsidies, unemployment
allowances, welfare benefits to weaker sections, etc. On the other hand, the
non-transfer expenditure relates to spending which results in creation of
income or output. It includes development as well as non-development
expenditure that results in creation of output directly or indirectly, namely;
economic infrastructure such as power, transport, irrigation, etc.; and social
infrastructure such as education, health and family welfare, internal law and
order, defence, public administration, and so forth.
Musgrave (1989), explains the major function of public expenditure
are the provision for social goods, adjustment of distribution of income and
wealth to ensure conformance with what society consider as a “fair” or “just”
state distribution, and as a means of maintaining high employment, a reasonable
degree of price level stability, and an appropriate rate of economic growth.
These functions are categorized as allocation, distribution and stabilization
functions. John Maynard Keynes as quoted by Froyen (2009) advocated the role of
public expenditure in the determination income level and its distribution
through multiplier effects. It describes how an increase in government spending
would be transmitted to society through the economy.
Thus, public expenditure has a crucial role to bridge the gap
between the poor and the rich in societies and to reduce inequality. Public
expenditure is an important method of ensuring social justice through income
redistribution in a society (Pramanik: 1997). Clearly, the government would
become the protector of the interests of the poor, weak and underprivileged
groups to the degree that their rights are restored and their needs are met.
3.
MEASURING THE EFFICIENCY OF PUBLIC SPENDING
Several studies have used macro quantitative yardsticks to measure
the efficiency of government spending. For example, the size of public
expenditure is measured as a ratio of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), since it is
assumed that the expansion of the public sector always means a shift of
resources away from the private sector. Dodson (2008) for instance, assessed
the impact of public spending on growth in seven fast developing countries
namely Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Botswana, and
Mauritius. He concluded that at the national level productive expenditures are
clearly much more relevant in explaining growth changes than unproductive ones
even in the short terms. Pramanik (1997) applied the regression method to
examine the public expenditure policy of Muslim-majority countries. He found
that development activities in the rural traditional sector through allocation
of public expenditure in the Muslim world as a whole and the resource-rich Muslim
countries in particular after the oil boom of the early 1970s have failed to
involve most of the rural poor.
On the other hand a micro approach or program level approach is
another method of measuring public expenditure. Mullard (1993) studied several expenditure
programmes segregating by economic category and then deflated by the appropriate
price deflators providing an indicator of the factors that influenced changes
at the programme level. He found that there have been large reductions in
housing capital programmes, school buildings, roads and infrastructure
expenditure over the past two decades of the research.
Another approach to examine public spending is through public
expenditure incidences. This is a survey of the impact of expenditure policy on
the distribution of real household income. Wee (2006) evaluated public expenditure
in Malaysia by observing budget incidences which consists of tax incidence,
benefit incidence, and expenditure incidence. He examined government education
services, government health financing, and expenditure as well as access to
health services. For education he concluded that scholarship and loans for
tertiary education have benefited the better off more because of their higher
enrolment. On the other hand, government health services have been highly
subsidised and their utilisation by the poor has increased over time. However,
it was found that many among the poor, who require treatments, have failed to
seek treatments due to the high private travel costs incurred to seek treatment
which are even higher than the treatment costs and increasing faster than the
increase of the average household income.
Halasa, et. al (2010), observed public spending by using
benefit–incidence analysis of government spending on the Ministry of Health
outpatient services in Jordan. He observed whether government health care
subsidies reach their target group, and the possible role these subsidies play
in enhancing equity of access to basic health care services in Jordan. As
expected, the poor were more likely than the rich to obtain health care from
public facilities, suggesting that public spending on healthcare services may
matter more to the poor. Lanjouw, P, et al (2001), conducted a study on who
benefits from public spending in Indonesia and the result he suggested was that
there is a strong factor of education, particularly the mother’s education, on
the nutritional diet of children as well as parents’ education on the education
of their children. He found that public spending for primary education is
reasonably pro-poor.
The most used technique for assessing public spending is the
Cost-Benefits Analysis (CBA). The fundamental principle of social cost-benefit
analysis is that an activity should be valued so that they can be set against
the corresponding cost. Kasliwal (1995) examined public expenditure for
providing basic needs in less developed countries (LDCs). The task for public
spending policy is to design a delivery system to provide the minimum
acceptable set of basic needs. One choice may be to make direct in-kind
transfers of necessities such as free health care, subsidized basic food,
fuels, and so on. However, these expenditure programs restrict benefits to just
the poor. Such problems may be avoided by a specially design program. For
example, a public health program of preventive medicine that would benefit the
entire population, but aids the poor more proportionately.
Another measure of efficiency for government spending is the
applied welfare analysis. It uses standard neoclassical tools in the real world
context of detailed policy choices. Applied welfare analysis is developed fully
in the framework of social benefit-cost analysis. The goal of CBA is to move
toward the highest attainable economic welfare for the overall economy. However
the benefit-cost tool is best suited for the analysis of concrete projects.
According to Kasliwal (1995) in the social-cost analysis the choices are
influenced by weighing project benefits according to the impact on various
income groups. Thus, for in-kind transfer programs to be successful, careful
thought must be given to their design. Public programs that address the basic
needs but have no ready substitutes in private expenditure are ideal. It is
even better if the program serves to enhance productivity so as to provide
redistribution-with growth.
A more precise method to examine public spending is through public
expenditure tracking survey (PETS). It track the flows of public funds through
the various levels of government bureaucracy, from the central government level
to the frontline service providers, to determine how much of the allocated
resources reach each level. PETS is a useful a method for locating and
quantifying political and bureaucratic capture, leakage of funds and problems
in the deployment of human and in-kind resource such as staff, textbooks and
more generally how the system targets funding to different levels. According to
Reinnika, R and Smith, N(2004) the PETS method has been applied successfully in
Uganda, Peru, Zambia and many others countries to enhance the understanding of
why public resource devoted particularly to education often produce unsatisfactory
results. His findings in the three countries show that new funds and resourcespoured
into improved educational outcomes cannot be taken for granted. Educational
funds has mostly been stolen or misused for other purposes by bureaucrats and
politicians. According to Koziol, M and
Tolmie, C (2010) PETS have been shown to be effective in identifying delays in
financial and in-kind transfers, leakage rates, and general inefficiencies in
public spending.
4. Government Spending in Aceh
Aceh
was an Islamic Kingdom in Asia since Islam arrived in Aceh during the 7th
century CE. The Kingdom reached its pinnacle of power under Sulthan Iskandar
Muda (1607-1636) due to economic and territorial expansion with Islam forming
the backbone of rules of the land (Missbach, Antje: 2010). However, since 1873
the Dutch issued formal declaration of war against the independent sovereign
state of Aceh and the Acehnese went into a prolonged war to fight western
colonization till 1945 (Thaib: 2002).
From
1945onwards Aceh has been integrated intoIndonesia,who’s central government was
dominated by nationalistswho were suspicious of Islam influence in the Acehnese
province.Recently in 2006, the government of Aceh was granted a special authority
by the Indonesian law No. 26/2006, for self-governance based on Islamic
principles in all aspects of life. However, the functions of Aceh government
spending were still based on the policy of Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance
(2011). This policy, which constitutes guidelines for public expenditure for
every province and regency in Indonesia, has eight functions, namely; (1) Education,
(2) Healthcare, (3) Social Security, (4) Orderliness and Safety, (5) Housing
and Public Facilities, (6) Economic , (7) Public Service and (8) Environmental,
Tourism and Culture.
In
terms of Education, the Aceh
government has allocated 30% of its budget for education through a number of
programs such as vocational developmental, teacher training, scholarship,
curriculum development, research, provision laboratories and new set up class
rooms (APBA, 2010). Meanwhilewith the HealthDepartment,
the Aceh government has established hospitals in every region, provision
hospital equipment, community health care centres at sub district, and
integrated health centres and village maternity post for each village. This is
in addition to health insurance for poor families, doctor specialist training, healthy
life promotion, enhancing nutrient service and surveillance epidemic tackling. (APBA,
2010). All these are expected to have impacted
and resulted in a high standard of health for Aceh’s citizens.
The Aceh government also spends on Social
Security.This payment is an entitlement, or a
payment to which eligible citizens have the right to receive based on
Indonesian law. Entitlements are a huge share of the national budget because
these payments are mandated by law and Shari’ah as well. According to Brux and
Cowen (2005) social insurance is a good example of social security. A social
insurance program is like a private insurance program, except that benefits are
provided by the government instead of by private companies. Like a private life
or health insurance, the purpose of social insurance programs is to pool risk
of losses from such occurrences as deaths or illnesses. Through public spending
Aceh government protects waifs, orphans, widows, and elders. Other programs are
the empowerment of poor families, special training for disabilities, and also
training for school drop outs, social aid, disaster relief, and social
counselling (APBA 2010).
Orderliness
and Safety is
another function where Aceh’s government budget is allocated.The peace agreement signed between Aceh freedom movement and the government
of Indonesia has made Aceh a safe area to visit and live in. However, illegal
extortion and security issues are perceived as a negative stigma in Aceh.
Almost one in four businesses in Aceh reports paying extra for security.
Perceptions of increased risk are not conducive for the private sector. In a
way to ensure orderliness and safety for society the government provides
spending for law enforcement, training for security units, and socialized peace
environment among the society (APBA 2010).
The other function for government spending isHousing
and Public Facilities. Home ownership
is a basic need. Due to the prolongedconflict between Aceh Freedom Movement and
Government of Indonesia, and natural calamities such as earth quake and tsunami,many
familieshave lost their houses. It is very important for the Aceh government to
develop policies to promote home ownership and access to adequate housing.
Without such policies, some families in Aceh cannot afford to buy a house. The
availability of low cost and adequate quality rented housing for low-income
families is therefore important. The search for affordable rented houses has
become more difficult for students who have poor families in the city. The high
rental prices understandably harm the well-being of low-income families,
because when families spend a large percentage of their incomes on housing,
little remains for food, clothing, and other necessities. One possibility is
that low-income families are often crowded in old housing units that are
physical inadequate and more often than not result in the increase in the
number of the homelessness.
On the other hand, public facilities satisfy specific
individual or community needs - including safety and security, worship,
communication, recreation, sports, education, healthcare services, public
administration, religious, cultural and social activities and development.
Public facilities, as the name implies, are generally regarded as the
responsibility of the government, whether central, regional or local, and more
often than not are provided by government institutions. However, public
facilities are also provided privately, when the government-provided services
are perceived to be inadequate. Therefore, Aceh government has assigned budgets for developing new housing for poor
families, good infrastructure such as highways, bus stations, harbor in every
regional city, airports, traffic lights,sport complexes, recreational park or
maintaining existing ones (APBA 2010).
AsforEconomic
Programsthe Aceh government provides several programs and allocates such
budget to encourage economic development. Economic programs are very important
in promoting small to big businesses, farmers, fishers, private sector, which will
stand to benefit directly or indirectly from such programs to help raise their
incomes. In fact, it is a continuation of such initiatives and policies that
improve the quality of life of Acehnese. The growth is being fuelled by strong
private investments, and a robust construction sector. It should care much more
for the lower income group who are facing great difficulties due to inflation
and income disparity. The roles of economic programs have been to ensure that
the people's needs are taken care of it continuously improves their livelihood.
To implement those programs Aceh government established a number of boards and
agencies such as Investment and Promotion Board to encourage foreign investors,
Prosperous Village Financial Assistance Program, Baitul Maal, Community
Empowerment Board, agro-business department, small and medium enterprise
department and economic biro (Aceh Economic Planning 2006).
Public
Serviceplaysa critical role for enhancing
the wellbeing of the people. Aceh government has allocatedhugesums to pay for
salary and facilities with the expectation that civil servants will be prepared
to change their mind-set and work ways to ensure that innovative services can
be continuously produced and improved for the benefit of the people and the
country. In the modern concept, public service depends on the principle of good
governance including transparency, accountability, respect, empowerment,
freedom of expression, dignity of the human individual and practical cooperation
of all. A number of money are also spent for staff on public service salary
(APBA 2010)
Environment,
Tourism and Culture. The term
“environment” relates to the concepts of ecology, environmental awareness, and
sustainability. Today those terms are formulated in the face of growing
concerns about the present state of the natural world around us. Increasing
human activities in exploring natural resources to meet their demands hasaggravated
environmental problems. Consequently, public spending policies should
effectively address the environment, tourism, and culture in a wider
perspective. Public spending on the environmental sector in Aceh province should
preserveits ecological resources and cultural heritage, which plays an
important role for the preservation of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and
wealth. The Aceh province takes a strong stand against pollution through
regulation or by public expenditure for controlling the environment handled by the
Aceh Environmental Impact Management Board.
There are indications that increasing budget expenditures in Aceh
do not translate into concrete results on the ground. For example, the World
Bank report (2007) on Aceh Public Expenditure Analysis (APEA) shows that Aceh
Government spending on health has barely increased after special autonomy. It
was found that despite the increase in revenue, Aceh’s healthcare system
remains woefully under-funded. Inadequate health care provisionsincrease total
health expenditures of household. Meanwhile Aliasuddin and Dawood, Taufiq C.
(2008) found a significant relationship between Aceh government spending and
economic growth. However, the response of such spending to economic growth is
only significant in the short term. This means that the economy improved through
government spending,but revenues were not reinvested in economic activities in
Aceh. So the impact of the economy on government spending in the long term has a
negative relationship.
According to Mullard (1993) the analysis of public expenditure
requires a multi-layered approach. It is difficult therefore to isolate the
concerns of economics, politics and the social implications of public
expenditure decisions. Economists might argue that the concern of economics is
to provide the analysis of the costs and benefits of specific expenditure
decisions and that their objective is to provide governments with the policy
options thus allowing the final decision to be made by politicians.
The view by Mullard (1993) of a multi-layered approach can also be
extended to quantitative and qualitative measures of government spending. For
instance, several studies show that the quantitative measures of economic
growth and development such as GDP and Per capita income have ignored a lot of
useful qualitative aspects of the two phenomena. Similarly, more meanings would
be given to the quantitative measures of government spending discussed above if
they are complemented with qualitative measures. This is more pertinent in the
case of Aceh, which runs its administration based on the Shari’ah that is
qualitatively value loaded. There is therefore a need to examine whether
government spending in Aceh conforms to Maqasid al-Shari’ah.
5.
The Theory of Maqasid al-Shari’ah
Maqasid
al-Shari’ah was not fully conceptualized into theory until the time of Al-Juwayni
(d. 1085 A.D). Al-Juwayni (ed., Abdul Azim, 1979). He used the concept of
Maslahah and Mafsadah to develop the first theory of al-Maqasid although he
confined his theory to legal matters such as the method of determining Shari’ah
principles and rulings.Al-Juwayni’s theory was later refined by his student,
al-Ghazali (d.1111 A.D). He categorized Maslahah into three hierarchies:
necessities (Daruriyat), complements (Hajiyaat) and embellishments
(Tahsiniyaat). According to al-Ghazali, necessities are those elements without
which the system of a nation will run into chaos. Complements are elements that
facilitate human lives. Meanwhile embellishments are articles that are related
to moral and ethical conducts. He further refined necessities into the
preservation of five essential elements (al-Dharuriyat al-Khams), namely
religion (al-Din), life (al-Nafs), intellect (al-Aql), progeny (al-Nasl) and
wealth (al-Mal). These five essential elements are given priority according to
this order. It should be noted that Al-Ghazali’s theory has survived until
today. Many Muslim scholars both past and present have extensively made use of
al-Ghazali’s theory in their works. The theoretical framework of al-Ghazali’s Maqasid
is illustrated in Figure1 below:
Figure1
Al-Ghazali’s
Theoretical Framework of al-Maqasid
Prominent
scholars in the recent past who have greatly benefited from al-Ghazali’s theory
include Ibn ‘Ashur, al-Shatibi and Abu Zaharah. Modern scholars in the areas of
economics and finance have also used al-Ghazali’s Maqasid theory as bases for
their studies. For example Chapra (2007) has used al-Ghazali’s classification
of the five essentials to develop a model of human development and wellbeing.
Larbani and Mustafa (2009) developed a decision making tool based on
al-Ghazali’s levels of Maslahah for the managers of firms to be used in
allocating their investible resources in vital sectors of the economy.
The
present study makes use of al-Ghazali’s original five essential elements or
Maqasid and a modified version of al-Ghazali’s three hierarchies of Maslahah to
develop a conceptual framework and instrument for the Maqasid Performance
Pairwise Matrix (MPPM). Attia(2008) citing Izz ‘Abd Salaam has modified
al-Ghazali’s three hierarchies of Maslahah into five, namely Dire Necessity (Ma
Waraa Daruriyat), Necessity (Daruriyat), complements (Hajiyaat), embellishments
(Tahsiniyaat) and beyond Embellishment (Ma Waraa Tahsiniyaat). Furthermore, to
suit the context of this study, the author have adopted Auda’s term of “development”
rather than al-Ghazali’s use of the word “preservation”. Hence,the development
of the five essential elements, namely religion (al-Din), life (al-Nafs),
intellect (al-‘Aql), family (al-Nasl) and wealth (al-Mal) is developed.
6.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK of Maqasid PERFORMANCE
PAIRWISE MATRIX (MPPM)
The MPPM framework is essentially a combination of al-Ghazali’s
five Maqasid and Attia’s five hierarchies of Maslahah that are arranged in
Table 1 below.
Table
1
Conceptual
Framework of Maqasid Performance Pairwise Matrix (MPPM)
|
No
|
Essential Elements
(Maqasid)
|
Hierarchies of Mashlahah
|
||||
|
Dire Necessity
|
Necessity
|
Complement
|
Embellishment
|
Beyond
Embellish-ment
|
||
|
01
|
Development
of Religion (al-Din)
|
DDN
|
DN
|
DC
|
DE
|
DBE
|
|
02
|
Development
of Life (al-Nafs)
|
NDN
|
NN
|
NC
|
NE
|
NBE
|
|
03
|
Development
of Intellect (al-‘Aqal)
|
ADN
|
AN
|
AC
|
AE
|
ABE
|
|
04
|
Development
of Family (al-Nasl)
|
NLDN
|
NLN
|
NLC
|
NLE
|
NLBE
|
|
05
|
Development
of Wealth (al-Mal)
|
MDN
|
MN
|
MC
|
ME
|
MBE
|
Where
D=al-Din, N=al-Nafs, A=al-‘Aql, NL=al-Nasl and M=al-Mal representing all the
initials of the five essential elements (Maqasid) in the second column of Table
1. Whereas, DN= Dire Necessity, N=Necessity, C=Complement, E=Embellishment and BE=Beyond
Embellishment are initials for the five hierarchies of Maslahah, column 3-7
from left.
Therefore,
from Table 1 above, for example, NDN is a combination of al-Nafs and Dire
Necessity. This is interpreted as, “What is the measure or to what extent is
certain activity contributing to the development ofhuman life at the level of
dire necessity?” In the context of the present study, this combination is
interpreted as, “What is the measure or to what extent is government
expenditure, for example on health, able to develop human life at the level of
dire necessity?” Similarly, a combination of ME denotes al-Mal and
Embellishment. Hence, to what extent is government expenditure, say on the
economy, able to develop wealth beyond necessity to the level of
embellishment?” Figure 2 below presents the MPPM framework in the form of a
diagram. As can be seen in the diagram below, the combination of one element of
Maqasid, al-Din with all the five hierarchies of Maslahah as shown in Table 1
above are used to measure the eight areas or functions of Aceh government
spending. These combinations are repeated for the remaining four elements of
Maqasid [al-Nafs, al-Aql, al-Nasl and al-Mal] with all the five hierarchies of
Maslahah.
Figure
2
MPPM Conceptual Framework Based on Combinations of Maqasid and
hierarchy ofMashlahah
As
explained previously, the Maqasid Performance pairwise Matrix (MPPM) will be
used to measure the extent to which government spending in Aceh conforms to
al-Maqasid and hence Shari’ah oriented public policy or al-Siyasah
al-Shar’iyyah. MPPM will be used to gauge public perception on eight functions
or areas of Aceh’s government expenditure, namely (1) Education, (2) Healthcare,
(3) Social Security, (4) Orderliness and Safety, (5) Housing and Public
Facilities, (6) Economy, (7) Public Service and (8) Environmental, Tourism and
Culture.
The
subsequent section discusses the methodology used in research design:
identifying the population, sample size and sampling method; developing the
instrument, conducting the survey, data collection procedure and their
analysis.
7.
METHODOLOGY
This chapter will elaborate on the methodology designed to
investigate the Acehnese public perception towards the Aceh government public
spending. The study is expected to provide answers to the following questions:
·
What
is the public perception on the Aceh government commitment towards implementing
shari’ah principles in it public expenditure policies?
·
To
what extent is the public familiar with the concept of maqasid shari’ah?
·
How
aware are the public toward mashalah such as preservation of religion, life,
intellect, progeny, and wealth?
·
To
what extent does the public perception on eight sectors public spending conform
to maqasid shari’ah dimensions?
7.1 Sampling Process
The study follows a convenience sampling process, with a four-step
procedure of data collection as outlined by Jackson (2003). First, the
population was defined. Samples chosen for the study were from the public who
is living in Aceh, since according to data from Aceh Central Bureau of
Statistics (Biro Pusat Statistik) in 2011 the total population in Aceh was over
4.5 million people. Secondly, there is no sampling frame otherwise the study would
have used convenience sampling due to limitation of time and fund. Third,
sample size is limited to five groups according to social roles, namely;
politicians, academicians, students, traders, and others. Fourth, the response
rate was set, a total of 300 sets of questionnaires were distributed 114 of
them through drop-off points and 119 online. Out of the 300 questionnaires, a
total of 233 (78%) responses were received.
7.2 Research instrument
The study uses questionnaire that consists of mostly close-ended
type questions, with one voluntary open ended question. Close-ended type
questions specify limited alternatives and ask the respondents to answer by choosing
from the given answers. While, open-ended type questions, allows the
respondents were to give additional alternative views to what the close-ended
questions provide. Close-ended type questions minimize the element of biasness
and enables uniformity and consistency of the data collected, thus allowing the
use of statistical tests in evaluating empirical findings. It also eases the respondents
in answering. Meanwhile, the advantage of the open-ended question is that it
can reveal uncommon and intelligent views of the respondents which the surveyor
would otherwise have not realized (Czaja and Blair ; 2005).
To support the argument of the study, eight experts from various backgrounds
were interviewed face to face in a semi-structured manner regarding issues of
public spending in Aceh. It is believed that this method is best for open ended
questions, because these survey allows a more relaxed atmosphere and tempo (Czaja
and Blair :2005). The interview took place in their offices. The expertsbackgrounds
are in the subject of Shari’ah, Ushul fiqh, Islamic economics and finances,
economics models, development policy, public financing, corporate economics, legislation
and budgeting.
7.3 The Questionnaire
The questionnaire covered three pages and was divided in to four
parts. The questionnaire had 40 items (5 items for each of the eight topics)
covering a range of issues aimed at gauging the public perception of government
spending in Aceh. The questionnaire is comprised four sections. The first
section focused on soliciting general information on the respondents’
background, which included items on gender, age, marital status and social
roles. Section two and three were intended for gathering information on the
respondents’ level of awareness on al-Maqasid and whether they think Aceh
government was committed in implementing Shari’ah Oriented Public Policy in government
spending as well as the public opinion on the concept of maqasid shari’ah.
The final section of the questionnaire was used to obtain public
opinion on government expenditure in the eight functions. This part of the
questionnaire used the Likert 5-point scale, namely; 1. Hardly Satisfactory,
2.Satisfactory, 3. Good, 4. Better and 5.More than Necessary. These scales were
purposely chosen to correspond to the five hierarchies of Maslahah. Hence, Hardly
Satisfactory corresponds to Dire Necessity, Satisfactory to Necessity, Good to
Complement, Better to Embellishment and More than Necessary to Waste. At the
end of this section the subject was provided with one voluntary open ended
question. The questioner also employed for semi-structured interview to engage
with experts in Banda Aceh.
7.4 Data collection
The process of data collection continued for two months from July
to August 2012 and the study adopted convenience survey approach. The
convenience survey for the fieldwork surveyused self-administered convenience
approach for data collection that is the questionnaire is distributed by hand
and electronic mail to individuals. To collect the data, the researcher would
approach a prospective respondent, introduced the general purposes of the
survey and left the questionnaire with the respondent to complete. The
researcher will wait on the spot for the respondent to complete the questionnaire.
In general from the total of 300 sets of questionnaires distributed
114 through drop-off points and 119 online. Out of the 300 questionnaires, a
total of 233 (78%) responses were received.Only 41 (18%) of respondents wrote their
opinions in the open-ended question. This response is considered sufficient for
statistical analysis. Moreover, completed were the interviews targeted a group
of experts with mixed specializationin the areas ofShari’ah, Ushul fiqh,
Islamic economics, development policy, public finance, corporate economics and
budgeting (appendix 11.3).
7.6 Data analyses
After looking at advantages and disadvantages of several survey
techniques, the self-administered questionnaire approach is adopted using a
semi-structured interview survey method because it is a relatively inexpensive
method of collecting much information from a large number of people (Jackson :
2003). The study is based on a sample survey and it is descriptive in nature.Data
will be analysed mainly by descriptive analysis involve two methods. The first
method is a set of simple calculations ofpercentages and means value by using
statistical testswhich are done using the software package SPSS version 17.0. The
second method is a content analysis for open ended question and semi-structured
interview of experts.Content analysis is a research technique developed for analysing
systematically the content of communication media. Content analysis has been
used to assess the change in the quality of a message over a period of time, to
describe the attributes of message, to draw inference about the sender of the
message, to test hypotheses concerning some aspect of the culture in a society
or concerning the cultural difference between societies, to test hypotheses
concerning the effect of messages, and so on (Sufiyan :1998).
Contents can be referred as the words, phrases, pictures or photos,
symbols, themes or order communicative devices within a form of communication.
The communication forms that are the subject of content analysis are usually
referred to texts. These can be book chapters, essays, historical documents,
newspaper headlines or articles, and transcriptions of speeches, interviews or
discussions. However, the term ‘text’ also includes other form communication
such as informal conversation, imaginary, theatre and advertising. Virtually
any form of communicative language can be subject to content analysis (Walter:
2011).
In this sense, my study contents refer to comments of respondents from
open-ended question and semi-structured interview of eight experts in Aceh to
identify public perception on maqasid framework for public spending in Aceh
(See appendix 11.2 and 11.3). Expert’s arguments are aimed to correct
inaccurate and incomplete understanding of the public respondents. It is an invaluable
aid for controlling the standard of the study in analyses the quantitative data.
The findings and their analysis are presented in the subsequent section.
8.
RESULTS
Results of the survey are presented and analysed in three subsections.
The immediate subsection 8.1 presents the profile of the respondents and the
related analysis. The subsequent subsection 8.2 discusses the findings on the
level of the respondents’ knowledge on Maqasid al-Shari’ah and their
understanding ofthe extent of Aceh government’scommitment in implementing
Shari’ah oriented public policy in its spending. The final subsection 8.3
provides an analysis of the public perception on Aceh’s government spending in
the eight areas or functions.
8.1 Profile of the Respondents
Table 2 below shows the frequency distributions and percentages of the
respondents. Data collected for the respondents’ backgroundinclude
gender, age, marital status and social roles.
Table 2
Respondents’ Background
|
Variables
|
Frequency
|
Percentage (%)
|
|
|
Gender
|
Male
|
189
|
81.1
|
|
Female
|
44
|
18.9
|
|
|
Total
|
233
|
100
|
|
|
Age
|
< 18
|
4
|
1.7
|
|
18 – 23
|
34
|
14.6
|
|
|
24 – 29
|
73
|
31.3
|
|
|
30 – 35
|
76
|
32.6
|
|
|
>35
|
46
|
19.7
|
|
|
Total
|
233
|
100
|
|
|
Marital Status
|
Single
|
100
|
42.9
|
|
Married
|
133
|
57.1
|
|
|
Total
|
233
|
100
|
|
|
Social Role
|
Politician
|
12
|
5.2
|
|
Student
|
107
|
45.9
|
|
|
Academician
|
58
|
24.9
|
|
|
Trader
|
2
|
0.9
|
|
|
Others
|
54
|
23.2
|
|
|
Total
|
233
|
100
|
|
From Table 2
above, the majority of the respondents in the sample are male (81.1%) with61%
of whom are youth between the ages of 24 to 35 years old. In terms of marital
status, 57.1% of the respondents are married and 42.9% are not. With regards to
their social role, 45.9% of them are students, 24.9% arer academicians, 5.2 % are
politicians, only 0.9 % of them are traders, and 23.2 % are others. Therefore
the profile shows that the respondents are matured, educated and of various
background including a group from public policy departments in Aceh. This
indicates that the choices of respondents are appropriate for this study and
reflects the opinion of the well informed and educated section of society who
provides informed decisions.
8.2 Level of the Respondents Knowledge on al-Maqasid
As stated above, this subsection discusses the findings on the
level of the respondents’ knowledge on Maqasid al-Shari’ah and their
understanding of Aceh government’s commitment in implementing Shari’ah oriented
public policy in its spending. Table 3 below provides the respondents’
responses on the two issues.
Table 3
Respondents’ Knowledge on al-Maqasid and
Aceh Governments’ Commitment
|
Variables
|
Frequency
|
Percentage (%)
|
|
|
Do you think
that Aceh Government is committed to applying Shari’ah principles in its public
expenditure policies?
|
Not Committed at all
|
26
|
11.2
|
|
Least Committed
|
126
|
54.1
|
|
|
Quiet Committed
|
31
|
13.3
|
|
|
Committed
|
44
|
18.9
|
|
|
Very Committed
|
6
|
2.6
|
|
|
Total
|
233
|
Mean (2.48)
S.D (1.005)
|
|
|
How familiar are you with the concept of Maqasid al-Shari’ah?
|
Not Familiar at all
|
21
|
9.0
|
|
Least Familiar
|
60
|
25.8
|
|
|
Quiet Familiar
|
39
|
16.7
|
|
|
Familiar
|
81
|
34.8
|
|
|
Very Familiar
|
32
|
13.7
|
|
|
Total
|
233
|
Mean (3.18)
S.D (1.220)
|
|
|
How aware are you with the concept Maslahahas the
development of religion, life, intellect, family, and wealth?
|
Not Aware at all
|
1
|
.4
|
|
Least Aware
|
8
|
3.4
|
|
|
Quiet Aware
|
8
|
3.4
|
|
|
Aware
|
85
|
36.5
|
|
|
Very Aware
|
131
|
56.2
|
|
|
Total
|
233
|
Mean (4.45)
S.D (0.759)
|
|
From Table 3 above, the majority of the respondents
(54.1 % ) are of the opinion that Aceh Government is least committed towards applying Shari’ah principles in its public expenditure
policies, although there are variations in the view of the respondents
(S.D=1.005). On the other hand, 65% of the respondents are
familiar with the concept of Maqasid al-Shari’ah. Furthermore,
almost all the respondents (95%) are aware about the
concept of Maslahah such as the development of religion, life,
intellect, family, and wealth. In fact, more than half of them (56.2%) are very
aware of this concept. This shows the respondents are in a position to answer
the questionnaire appropriately minimizing any bias that could have arisen due
to lack of knowledge on the subject.
8.3 Public Perception on Aceh Government Spending on the Eight Areas
This
subsection discusses in sequence the results of public perception on Aceh
government spending on the eight areas, namely;
(1) Education, (2) Healthcare, (3) Social Security, (4) Orderliness and Safety,
(5) Housing and Public Facilities, (6) Economy , (7) Public Service and (8)
Environmental, Tourism and Culture. The results are presented in Tables that
resemble an MPPM framework for clear explanation.
Overall, the
public perception on Aceh government spending on the eight areas is mixed. The
majority of the respondents perceive as satisfactory government spending on six
areas: Social Security, Orderliness and Safety, Housing and Public
Facilities, Economy, Public Service and Environmental, Tourism and Culture.
Since the level of Satisfactory on the Likert scale conforms to the Maslahah
hierarchy of Necessity, this means that government spending in these six areas
were only sufficient to develop the five Maqasid (Din, Nafs, Aql, Nasl and Mal)
atthe level of
necessity. For example, Aceh government spending on Housing and Public Facilities was only able to carter for the
necessities of life in terms of developing the quality of human life (Nafs),
family necessities (Nasl), etc. On the other hand, Aceh government spending on
Education and Healthcare is perceived to be good, corresponding to the
hierarchy of Complement. This means, government spending in these two areas
have achieved a level of developingthe
five Maqasid beyond the basic needs. For example, government spending on
Education has developed religious education beyond the necessity, intellect
beyond the basic, etc. Table 2 below shows the extent to which government
spending in the eight areas or sectors fulfils Maqsad (Shari’ah Objective) of
al-Din relative to the five hierarchies of Maslahah.
Table 2
Measuring
Government Spending Based on al-Din and the Hierarchies of Maslahah
|
|
Hierarchy of
Maslahah (%)
|
|
|||||
|
No
|
Sectors
|
DDN
|
DN
|
DC
|
DE
|
DBE
|
Mean
(S.D)
|
|
01
|
Education
|
17.6
|
29.6
|
36.5
|
13.7
|
2.6
|
2.54
(1.017)
|
|
02
|
Health Care
|
11.2
|
30.0
|
42.1
|
14.2
|
2.6
|
2.67 (0.941)
|
|
03
|
Social Security
|
15.9
|
32.2
|
37.3
|
12.4
|
2.1
|
2.53 (0.974)
|
|
04
|
Orderliness and Safety
|
18.0
|
36.1
|
35.2
|
7.7
|
3.0
|
2.42 (0.971)
|
|
05
|
Housing and Public Facilities
|
19.3
|
40.3
|
28.8
|
9.0
|
2.6
|
2.35 (0.976)
|
|
06
|
Economic Programs
|
21.0
|
34.8
|
33.5
|
8.2
|
2.6
|
2.36 (0.987)
|
|
07
|
Public Services
|
21.5
|
36.1
|
31.8
|
8.6
|
2.1
|
2.34 (0.979)
|
|
08
|
Environment, Tourism, and Cultural
|
22.3
|
36.1
|
28.3
|
8.6
|
4.7
|
2.37 (1.068)
|
Where DDN= al-Din at the level of Dire Necessity,
DN= al-Din at the level of Necessity, DC= al-Din at the level of Complement,
DE= al-Din at the level of Embellishment, DBE= al-Din at the level of Beyond
Embellishment
As shown in Table 2 above, 36.5% of the respondents
are of the opinion that government spending in education in relation to
developing al-Din has fulfilled Maqasid al-Shari’ah at the level of complement
(Hajiyat), beyond the basic need (Daruriyat). Similarly, regarding healthcare
and social security, 42.1% and 37.3% of the respondents respectively see
government spending on developing religion achieving Maqasid at the level of
Hajiyat.On the other hand, on average 37% (DN column) of the public perceive is
that government spending on the remaining five sectors have only contributed to
fulfilling people’s religious needs at the level of basic necessity. Furthermore,
18% of the respondents on average (DDN column) think that the level of government
spending that translates into the development of al-Din are still very low at
the dire necessity or survival level.
Table 3
shows the extent to which government spending in the eight sectors fulfils Maqsad
of al-Nafs relative to the five hierarchies of Maslahah.
Table
3
Measuring
Government Spending Based on al-Nafs and the Hierarchies of Maslahah
|
|
Hierarchy of
Maslahah (%)
|
|
|||||
|
No
|
Sectors
|
NDN
|
NN
|
NC
|
NE
|
NBE
|
Mean
(S.D)
|
|
01
|
Education
|
16.3
|
36.9
|
35.2
|
9.9
|
1.7
|
2.44
(0.936)
|
|
02
|
Health Care
|
12.9
|
33.5
|
35.2
|
15.5
|
3.0
|
2.62 (0.993)
|
|
03
|
Social Security
|
15.5
|
35.6
|
35.6
|
11.2
|
2.1
|
2.49 (0.956)
|
|
04
|
Orderliness and Safety
|
21.9
|
37.3
|
32.2
|
6.9
|
1.7
|
2.29 (0.943)
|
|
05
|
Housing and Public Facilities
|
20.6
|
43.8
|
29.2
|
4.7
|
1.7
|
2.23 (0.889)
|
|
06
|
Economic Programs
|
18.5
|
40.3
|
30.9
|
9.0
|
1.3
|
2.34 (0.925)
|
|
07
|
Public Services
|
22.7
|
39.5
|
27.9
|
27.9
|
7.3
|
2.27 (0.979)
|
|
08
|
Environment, Tourism, and Cultural
|
20.2
|
38.6
|
29.2
|
9.0
|
3.0
|
2.36 (0.999)
|
Where NDN= al-Nafs at the level of Dire Necessity,
NN= al-Nafs at the level of Necessity, NC= al-Nafs at the level of Complement,
NE= al-Nafs at the level of Embellishment, NBE= al-Nafs at the level of Beyond
Embellishment
From Table 3 above, about 36-44% of the respondents
are of the view that government spending onall the sectors, except healthcare,
in relation to human development have fulfilled Maqasid al-Shari’ah at the
level of basic need (Daruriyat) only. Thirty five per cent of them opine that
spending on health care has contributed to human development beyond the basic
need, at the level of Hajiyat. Yet there are quite a number of respondents, 19%
on average (NDN column) who are of the opinion that government spending for
developing human wellbeing was still at the level of dire necessity or
survival.
Table 4 below presents the extent to which government spending in
the eight sectors fulfils Maqsad of al-‘Aql relative to the five hierarchies of
Maslahah.
Table 4
Measuring Government Spending Based on
al-’Aql and the Hierarchies of Maslahah
|
|
Hierarchy of Maslahah (%)
|
|
|||||
|
No
|
Sectors
|
AND
|
AN
|
AC
|
AE
|
ABE
|
Mean
(S.D)
|
|
01
|
Education
|
15.9
|
33.5
|
37.8
|
10.7
|
2.1
|
2.50 (0.956)
|
|
02
|
Health Care
|
14.6
|
30.9
|
39.1
|
13.3
|
2.1
|
2.58 (0.967)
|
|
03
|
Social Security
|
15.0
|
39.5
|
32.2
|
11.6
|
1.7
|
2.45 (0.942)
|
|
04
|
Orderliness and Safety
|
18.0
|
41.6
|
31.8
|
7.3
|
1.3
|
2.32 (0.897)
|
|
05
|
Housing and Public Facilities
|
20.6
|
43.3
|
30.1
|
4.3
|
1.7
|
2.23 (0.884)
|
|
06
|
Economic Programs
|
18.0
|
38.6
|
32.2
|
9.9
|
1.3
|
2.38 (0.935)
|
|
07
|
Public Services
|
21.9
|
39.5
|
30.5
|
6.0
|
2.1
|
2.27 (0.942)
|
|
08
|
Environment, Tourism, and
Cultural
|
21.5
|
37.8
|
29.2
|
9.0
|
2.6
|
2.33 (0.995)
|
Where ADN= al-‘Aql at the level of Dire Necessity, AN=
al-‘Aql at the level of Necessity, AC= al-‘Aql at the level of Complement, AE= al-‘Aql
at the level of Embellishment, ABE= al-‘Aql at the level of Beyond
Embellishment
With reference to Table 4 above, on average a high percentage of
40% (AN column) of the respondentsbelieve government spending in the
five sectors in relation to developing al-‘Aql is still at the level of
necessity. By contrast an average of 38% of the respondents (AC column) is of
the view that governmentspending in Education and Health care sectors have
managed to develop the intellectual capital in Aceh beyond the necessity, at
the level of complement. On the other hand, similar to the cases in the
previous two Maqasid [al-Din and al-Nafs], there are also quite a number of respondents, 18% on average (NDN
column) who are of the opinion that government spending for developing intellectual
capital in Aceh was still at the level of dire necessity or survival.
Table 5below
shows the extent to which government spending in the eight sectors fulfils
Maqsad of al-Nasl relative to the five hierarchies of Maslahah. The term Nasl
has been referred to in this study broadly to mean the family institution.
Table 5
Measuring
Government Spending Based on al-Nasl and the Hierarchies of Maslahah
|
|
Hierarchy of Maslahah (%)
|
|
|||||
|
No
|
Sectors
|
NLDN
|
NLN
|
NLC
|
NLE
|
NLBE
|
Mean
(S.D)
|
|
01
|
Education
|
13.3
|
35.2
|
35.2
|
13.3
|
3.0
|
2.58 (0.980)
|
|
02
|
Health Care
|
9.9
|
35.2
|
37.3
|
14.6
|
3.0
|
2.66 (0.948)
|
|
03
|
Social Security
|
13.7
|
40.8
|
30.9
|
12.0
|
2.6
|
2.49 (0.961)
|
|
04
|
Orderliness and Safety
|
16.7
|
39.1
|
35.2
|
7.3
|
1.7
|
2.38 (0.907)
|
|
05
|
Housing and Public Facilities
|
17.6
|
43.3
|
28.8
|
7.7
|
2.6
|
2.34 (0.944)
|
|
06
|
Economic Programs
|
19.7
|
36.1
|
33.0
|
9.4
|
1.7
|
2.37 (0.962)
|
|
07
|
Public Services
|
18.5
|
42.9
|
29.6
|
6.0
|
3.0
|
2.32 (0.944)
|
|
08
|
Environment, Tourism, and Cultural
|
20.2
|
38.2
|
30.0
|
8.2
|
3.4
|
2.36 (1.004)
|
Where NLDN= al-Nasl at the level of Dire Necessity,
NLN= al-Nasl at the level of Necessity, NLC= al-Nasl at the level of
Complement, NLE= al-Nasl at the level of Embellishment, NLBE= al-Nasl at the
level of Beyond Embellishment
In Table 5 above, on average a high percentage of 40% (NLN column) of
the respondents see government spending in the
six sectors in relation to developing Nasl (family institution) as still at the level of necessity. For
example, spending on housing and public facilities could only improve the
quality of family institution to the level of fulfilling basic necessities.
Meanwhile the respondents are divided in the case of Education. About 35.2% of
them think government spending on Education has improved the quality of family
institution to the level of necessity while the same percentage (35.2%) believe
the impact of the spending on Education has improved family life beyond the
necessity. Meanwhile only 16% of the
respondents on average (NDN column) are of the opinion that government spending
for developing family institutions in Aceh was still at the level of dire
necessity or survival.
Table 6
below shows the extent to which government spending in the eight sectors
fulfils Maqsad of al-Mal relative to the five hierarchies of Maslahah.
Table 6
Measuring Government Spending Based on al-Mal and the Hierarchies
of Maslahah
|
|
Hierarchy of Maslahah (%)
|
|
|||||
|
No
|
Sectors
|
MDN
|
MN
|
MC
|
ME
|
MBE
|
Mean
(S.D)
|
|
01
|
Education
|
14.6
|
33.5
|
37.8
|
11.6
|
2.6
|
2.54 (0.965)
|
|
02
|
Health Care
|
13.3
|
37.3
|
35.6
|
12.9
|
0.9
|
2.51 (0.910)
|
|
03
|
Social Security
|
15.0
|
39.5
|
33.0
|
10.3
|
2.1
|
2.45 (0.942)
|
|
04
|
Orderliness and Safety
|
17.2
|
38.6
|
32.2
|
11.2
|
0.9
|
2.40 (0.928)
|
|
05
|
Housing and Public Facilities
|
17.6
|
43.3
|
28.8
|
7.3
|
3.0
|
2.35 (0.953)
|
|
06
|
Economic Programs
|
16.7
|
39.9
|
29.6
|
10.7
|
3.0
|
2.43 (0.990)
|
|
07
|
Public Services
|
18.5
|
41.6
|
31.8
|
5.2
|
3.0
|
2.33 (0.936)
|
|
08
|
Environment Tourism, and Cultural
|
20.6
|
36.1
|
30.9
|
7.7
|
4.7
|
2.40 (1.046)
|
Where MDN= al-Mal at the level of Dire Necessity,
MN= al-Mal at the level of Necessity, MC= al-Mal at the level of Complement,
ME= al-Mal at the level of Embellishment, MBE= al-Mal at the level of Beyond
Embellishment
From
Table 6 above, on average 39.5% (MN column) of the respondents see government
spending in the seven sectors in relation to developing Mal as
still at the level of necessity. For example, government spending on healthcare
is translated into improving income and wealth situationat the level of
fulfilling basic necessities. Meanwhile 37.8% of the respondents believe that the
impact of government spending has improved public income and wealth to the
level of complement, beyond the necessity.On the other hand,17% of the respondents on average (NDN
column) are of the opinion that government spending to increas people’s income
and wealth in Aceh was still at the level of dire necessity or survival.
8.4
Respondent’s Comments and Expert Point of View
Respondents
believe that wherever shari’ah is implemented the mashlahah will follow. Muslim
(Expert 1) opines that five categories of dharuriyah are sufficiency within
Maqashid Shari’ah as an analysis tool for public policy. In general,
respondents opine thatdevelopment planning in Aceh does not consider maqashid
shari’ah achievement especially in the budgeting process. However, respondents said
that budgeting for public spending is done quite well, and good enough for all
sectors, but in terms of implementation there are misappropriations, due to of greediness,
corruption and manipulation (see respondent 12, 29, and 34). In fact, plenty of
money goes to pay the salary of the bureaucratic apparatus, as well as
providing and maintaining elite facilities. This is supported by Nazaruddin
(expert 3) who pointed out that generally the Acehnese public expendituresare dominatedby
allocation for the governing apparatus and facilities officeholders. It seems
to not contribute to help the people particularly in the rural area. Consequently,
the fast circulation of money only occursamong the elites who are close to the
ruling party while most people are poor and hardly able to fulfil their basic
needs (see respondent 03, 18, 19, 21, 27, 28, 36, and 40). Moreover,the unemployment
rate is still high (respondent 28), economic programs do not support middle and
small enterprises, but rather only support upper class enterprises.
However,Husen
(expert 8)believed that Aceh government is strongly wishes to implement
shari’ah law in Aceh,even it does not take maqashid shari’ah as consideration
for budgeting allocation policies in the Acehnese public expenditure. Similarly,
Islahuddin (expert 5) agreed that Aceh government has a strong supportsthe
allocation of public expenditure to preserve religion or implementing shari’ah
law. However, he said that most regulations applied in Aceh are regulated in
Jakarta. It is true that the pattern of budgeting in Acehalways follow those of
the central government. While Raja (expert 4) explained that public expenditure
in Aceh face three challenges namely; first, misappropriation and diversion of
funds between those allocated and those use for implementation; second,
conflicting priorities and public aspirations; third, political negotiation
between legislators (house representative)
and the executives (Governor and working units) avoid their interest
being sacrificed for public interest. According to his observation most of the
politicians lack commitment and tend to strive only for the interest of their
group and not for the people.
Therefore,
from the expert’s point of view, it is conformed that public perception on the
achievements of Aceh government’s public spending within the eight sectors are
still poor in terms of achieving levels of compliment and embellishment instead
of mostly at levels of necessity.
9.
Conclusion
The
novelty of this study lies in its pioneering initiative of developing the Maqasid
Performance Pairwise Matrix (MPPM) Model to measure the extent to which
government expenditure in Aceh fulfils Maqasid al-Shari’ah. MPPM has been used
as a basis, within the context of Shari’ah Oriented Public Policy (al-Siyasah
al-Shar’iyyah), to develop a survey research instrument to gauge public
perception on the Aceh government’s spending. The results of the study show
that government spending in Aceh has mostly developed the five Maqasid
[Religion, human life, intellectual capital, family institution and income
& wealth] to the extent of basic necessities. The spending has not improved
the qualities of these five Maqasid to the other two higher levels in the
hierarchy of Maslahah, namely Complement (Hajiyyah) and Embellishment(Tahsiniyyah).
The
results confirm early findings using quantitative measures, for example [World
Bank report (2007); Aliasuddin and Dawood (2008)], that government spending in
Aceh do not translate into concrete results on the ground. Thus, Aceh
government needs to improve its delivery of public spending to achieve higher
levelsin the hierarchy for Maslahah for the Acehnese people. On the other hand,
the results of the study are only indicative and cannot be generalized because
of the sample size. Furthermore, the scope of the study has not enabled the
authors to examine the reasons for the poor performance of Aceh government’s
spending. Therefore, future research can replicate the MPPM model using bigger
samples and also examine the reasons why the impact of Aceh government spending
is not felt by the citizens beyond the necessity level of Maslahah hierarchy.
10.
References
Abu Zaharah, Muhammad. (1997). Usul al-Fiqh.
Cairo: Dar al-Fikr al-‘Arabi.
Al-Ghazali, Abu Hamid. (n.d.). al-Mustasfa.
Damascus: Dar al-Fikr.
Aliasuddin and Dawood, Taufiq C. (2008) Pertumbuhan Ekonomi dan
Pengeluaran Pemerintah, Paper has been Presented at Seminar Universitas
Syiah Kuala, Universitas Bengkulu dan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Banda
Aceh, 27–28 Oktober 2008.
Al-Juwayni, Abu al-Maali. al-Burhan Fi Usul al-Fiqh. (ed.). Abdul
Azim al-Dib. (1979). Cairo: Dar al-Ansar.
Al-Shatibi, Abu Ishaq.al-Muwafaqat.
(ed.), Abdallah Darraz. (n.d). Beirut: Dar al-Ma’rifah.
Attia,
Gamal Eldin. (2008). Nahw Taf’eel Maqasid
al-Shari’ah [Towards Revitalizing al-Maqasid]. Herndon, USA: IIIT
Publication
Badan Pusat Statistic (BPS) Provinsi Aceh (2011). Aceh Dalam
Angka 2011. Banda Aceh.
Brux, J.M and Cowen, J.L (2001), Economic Issues and Policy,
Second Edition, Thomson Learning, U.S.
Chapra, M. Umer. (2007). The
Islamic Vision of Development in the Light of Maqasid al-Shari’ah.Research Paper, revised on 6 August
2007 and published in 2008, pp65, available at (http://www.irti.org)
Czaja, Ronald and Blair, Johnny
(2005), Designing Survey Guide to Decisions and Procedures, Second
Edition, Sage Publications, India
Dodson, Blanca Moreno (2008), Assessing the Impact of Public
Spending on Growth; An Empirical Analysis for Seven Fast Growing Countries,
Policy Research Working Paper 4663, World Bank.
Froyen, Richard T (2009), Macroeconomics Theories and Policies,
Pearson Prentice Hall, US
Halasa, Y, Nassar, H, and Zaky, H (2010), Benefit–Incidence
Analysis of Government Spending on Ministry of Health Outpatient Services in
Jordan, Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (EMHJ) Vol. 16 No. 5 p. 467-473
Ibn ‘Ashur, M. al-Tahir.(1998), Maqasid
al-Shari’ah al-Islamiyyah, ed., al-Misawi, Muhammad al-Tahir, Kuala Lumpur,
al-Basa’ir.
Kasliwal, Pari (1995), Development Economics, Thomson
Publishing, U.S.A
Kementerian Keuangan RI Direktorat Jenderal Perimbangan Keuangan
(2011), Anggaran Pendapatan dan Belanja Pemerintah Daerah (APBD) 2011,
Jakarta, Indonesia.
Koziol, M and Tolmie, C (2010), Using Public Expenditure
Tracking Surveys to Monitor Projects and Small-Scale Programs (A Guidebook),
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank,
Washington DC.
Jackson, W. (2003).Methods Doing Social Research. Toronto: Prentice
Hall.
Lanjouw, P, Pradhan, M, Saadah, F, Sayed, H, Sparrow R (2001), Poverty,
Education and Health in Indonesia: Who Benefits from Public Spending?World
Bank, Washington D.C, available at (http://econ.worldbank.org/view.php?topic=10&type=5&id=3184).
Larbani and Mustafa .(2009). A Decision Making Tools for the
Allocation of Investible Resources Based on Al-Maqasid Al- Sharia Framework. IIUM
International.
Missbach, Antje (2010), The Aceh War (1873-1913) the Influence of
Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje, in Graf, Arndt et. al (editor), Aceh: History,
Politics and Culture, ,Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.
Mullard, Maurice (1993), The Politics of Public Expenditure,
Routledge, London.
Musgrave, Richard A and Musgrave, Peggy B (1989), Public Finance
in Theory and Practice, McGraw-Hill, NewYork.
Pigou, A.C (1960), A Study in Public Finance, Macmillan,
London.
Pramanik, Ataul Huq (1997), Development and Distribution in
Islam, Pelanduk Publications, Malaysia.
Qanun Aceh (2010) Tentang Anggaran Pendapatan Dan Belanja Aceh
(APBA) tahun 2010 Per SKPA Menurut Program, Kegiatan, dan Belanja Tahun
Anggaran 2010, Banda Aceh.
Reinikka, R. and Smits, N (2004), Public Expenditure Tracking
Survey in Education, International Institute for Educational Planning,
UNESCO, available at (http://www.unesco.org/iiep)
Republic of Indonesia Law No. 22/1999 on Decentralization, law
No.25/1999 on Financial Balance Between Central and Local government and Republic
of Indonesia Law No.11/2006 on Aceh Government.
Sufian, A.J.M. (1998), Methods and Techniques of Social Research,
The University Press Limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Thaib, Lukman (2002), Acheh’s Case: A Historical Study of the
National Movement for the Independence of Acheh-Sumatra, University of
Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur.
Walter, Maggie (2011), Social Research Methods, Second Edition,
Oxford University Press, Australia.
Wee, Chong Hui (2006), Fiscal Policy and Inequality in Malaysia,
University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur.
World Bank (2007), Aceh Public Expenditure Analysis Spending For
Reconstruction and Poverty Reduction, Banda Aceh.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar