Land Rights in Cambodia: How Neopatrimonial Politics Restricts Land Policy Reform

Cambodia has undergone substantial changes since the United Nations’ sponsored election in 1993. Politically, the country has become increasingly stable under the domination of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). Economically, Cambodia has achieved an unprecedented level of economic performance, with GDP growth averaging almost 10 percent annually during the five years preceding the current economic crisis. In spite of these improvements in political and economic conditions, land rights have emerged as a major issue affecting the lives of many poor Cambodians.

Comprehensive overall analysis of land policy reforms in the country remains lacking, however, and this article fills a void in the existing literature. Our analysis shows that despite land policy reforms in the past decade, Cambodia’s land rights problems continue unabated. What accounts for this development? Through analysis of government land policies, an array of primary documents, and interview data from government officials and investors, this article questions the relevance of Cambodia’s land policy reforms. Its central premise is that although past collectivization and weak governmental institutions have contributed to land rights issues, it is neopatrimonialism—a mechanism that dictates political interaction among the elites and between the elites and the electorate and resources governance and distribution—that perpetuates land rights problems and limits land policy reform.

柬埔寨的土地權：新世襲政治對土地政策改革的限制

柬埔寨社會自1993年實行了受聯合國支持的大選後發生了重大的變化。在政治上，該國在柬埔寨人民黨（CPP）的統治下變得日益穩定。在經濟上，柬埔寨實現了前所未有的經濟增長，在目前的經濟危機到來前的五年裏其國民生產總值的平均增長率幾乎達到10％。雖然在政治和經濟方面有所進步，土地權卻逐漸成為一個影響到許多貧窮的柬埔寨人的主要問題。對該國土地政策改革全面深入的分析一直很缺乏，但本文填補了當前文獻的空白。我們的分析表明，儘管土地政策改革已經實施了十年，柬埔寨的土地問題仍然突出。原因何在？通過分析政府土地政策和一系列的原始文獻，結合對政府官員及投資者的訪談資料，本文對柬埔寨土地政策改革的適宜性提出了質疑。本文的首要前提是，儘管過去的集體化和弱政府機構導致了土地權問題，但新世襲製——一個規定精英之間及精英和全體選民之間的政治關係以及資源管理和分配的機制——才是深化了土地權問題並侷限了土地政策改革的原因。