Technocratic Turn
Authoritarianism, Global Capitalism, and Cambodia’s State Transformation since 2013
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24224523 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kimhean Hok (0009-0002-1831-9100, Lund University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 459-479 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-4810 • E-ISSN: 1472-6033 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14672715.2026.2654204 |
| OpenAlex | W7154454000 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
Scholars have characterized Cambodia as a weak state, strong party governance system in which administrative institutions are subordinated to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). This article argues that since 2013 Cambodian governance has taken a significant technocratic turn, as party rule has become increasingly dependent on a stronger and more capable administrative state. It traces a reform pattern involving selective creation and upgrading of institutional nodes that expand overall state administrative capacity without disrupting the party-political order. Through three cases — the transformation of the National Bank of Cambodia through the Bakong digital payment system, the restructuring of public–private partnership frameworks to fund the Techo International Airport, and the creation of executive-linked agencies such as the Techo Startup Center — the article shows how new centers of administrative capacity have emerged and been positioned at the core of the state’s developmental agenda. These institutions have enhanced the party-state’s capacity to mobilize revenue, coordinate and develop mega infrastructures, and formalize the economy, producing a more capable but still party-embedded state. The Cambodian case illustrates a particular trajectory within broader contemporary developmental state-making under global capitalism, in which strengthened administrative states and political authoritarianism are mutually reinforcing.
administrative capacity · Authoritarianism · Cambodia · Cambodian People's Party · economic formalization · global capitalism · infrastructure development · party-state governance · public-private partnerships · state transformation · Asian Industrial and Economic Development · Cambodian History and Society · Political Conflict and Governance
Miti and the Japanese Miracle
Liberalism Disavowed
Remaking the Chinese Leviathan
Cambodia's Unofficial Regime of Extraction
Outlawing Opposition, Imposing Rule of Law
Challenges and developments in university research in Cambodia
The Politics of Economic Development in Cambodia
The Political Economy of the Cambodian Transition
Cambodia
The Ruling Elite of Singapore
Competitive Authoritarianism
Capitalist Transformation by Neither Liberal Democracy Nor Dictatorship
State Mobilization in Authoritarian Regimes
Microfinance illusion, poverty and welfare in Cambodia
Friction, Good Governance and the Poor
Getting the territory right
Performance as (re)incarnation
The Politics of Gifts
Cambodia's Transition to Hegemonic Authoritarianism
Technocracy as a thin ideology
Goodbye Washington Confusion, hello Wall Street Consensus
A Regal Authoritarian Turn in Cambodia
Uneven and combined state capitalism
After the Grab? Land Control and Regime Survival in Cambodia since 2012
Transnational Labour Regimes and Neo-Liberal Development in Cambodia
The Wall Street Consensus
Repeated Multiparty Elections in Cambodia
State, Society and Democratic Consolidation
| Highly cited | No |
|---|