THE DARK SIDE OF DECENTRALIZATION: THE EMERGENCE OF THE SHADOW STATE IN INDONESIA (original) (raw)
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Cogent Arts & Humanities
This article explores the conduct of local governance in the decentralization era in Indonesia using new institutionalist framework. It departs from the argument that Indonesia's democratization and decentralization created new political actors in local sphere, as suggested by the rising numbers of new autonomous regions after decentralization policy started in 1999. This article argues that, first, informal institutions can be a substitute to formal arrangement in local governance. Second, local governance and local political conduct are elite biased that utilize formal democratic institutions appropriately for the elite's interests. To explore this phenomenenon, a case study method that focuses on Gorontalo Province as one of the products of decentralization policy in Indonesia is used Data were collected through in-depth interviews, FGD, historical sources, and Internet-based news outlets. This article concludes that the model of local governance in Gorontalo is an arena for contending social forces. It can be seen from the shared interests between indigenous elites and the interests of formal leaders, who are elected through the mechanism of direct local elections (pilkada). The mutual interests within formal dan informal procedures were utilized in ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Local Politics in Indonesia, 1999-2010: A Literature Review
PCD Journal Vol. IV No. 1 2012, 2012
Since the resignation of President Suharto in 1998, Indonesia has undergone a massive process of decentralisation and democratisation. Political power no longer concentrates at the national level, but is decentralised in local domains. Furthermore, in the cases of Aceh and Papua, the central government has had to give relatively broader autonomy in those regions in comparison with other regions of Indonesia. Nowadays, political processes do not unfold in a monolithic manner; rather they are dispersed due to the considerable progress of democratisation in society. Political processes are no longer determined in, and by, Jakarta, the capital city. Furthermore, the current political process represents the role of multiplying actors in which bureaucracy is no longer the only dominant one. Simultaneously, many actors who formally have no authority are, in fact, able to exert their in uence on the day-to-day policy process. In short, state power has undergone a breakdown and been dispersed along a centrifugal pattern which creates heterogeneous centres of power. Thererefore, exploration of the literature on local politics in Indonesia is an interesting and academically rewarding exercise. is paper attempts to map out the existing literature on the post-1999 political landscape at the local level. is literature review is made up by ve key questions: (1) How is localising of power in Indonesia understood? (2) How does power operate at local levels? (3) What are the forces that shape Indonesian local politics? (4) What are the prominent manifestations in Indonesian local politics? (5) What are alternative political forces that possibly represent the setting up of the street demonstrations? (6) What is the type of democratic governance format explored in the existing literature?
BISNIS & BIROKRASI: Jurnal Ilmu Administrasi dan Organisasi, 2024
The implementation of decentralization policies in Indonesia highlights contested interests between central and subnational governments. Particularly since the end of authoritarian rule, decentralization efforts have continuously faced tensions with recentralization interests. These interests do not necessarily aim to restore a strong state with a hierarchical command structure. Instead, the recent decentralization policies tend to display an administrative state supported by hierarchical policies. Consequently, the autonomous regions are no longer fully autonomous in managing their internal affairs but are increasingly required to comply with national policies. This study seeks to further investigate the reasons behind these shifts through a critical discourse analysis of relevant documents, FGDs, and expert interviews. Primary data were collected from in-depth interviews and FGD recordings, while secondary data were obtained from relevant literature. These data were then analyzed by synthesizing key findings per each expert and applying a link-and-match approach. This study seeks to validate the collected information to facilitate the interpretation of new findings, which were then presented in a draft outlining the debates on the topic and the position of the study. The findings indicate that the paradigm shift has made decentralization more administratively burdensome for the subnational level, as demonstrated by the increased policy assistance from the central government. The central government manages decentralization at the provincial, district, municipal, and even village levels through targeted policy objectives with key indicators. Consequently, the current decentralization creates a dependent relationship between subnational governments and the central government, primarily through fiscal transfers. A limitation of this study includes the relatively unexplored responses from local officials.
Reversing Democracy: Examining the Nagari Institution in West Sumatra, Indonesia
Bisnis & Birokrasi Journal
Democracy consolidation is a process that reduces the possibility of reversing democratization, for the process is featured by negotiations among actors that wants to "promote" the new system or "rules of the game" rather than to damage the old system, and everything is reflected in the process of returning to the nagari in West Sumatra, Indonesia. There is an anomaly of power when the nature of state authority finally raises a "drama" of a political system directly applied to local nagari institutions. The renewal of nagari from previously imposed uniformity under the Village Government Law 5/1979 cannot be analyzed merely as an issue of autonomy and governance. It must be understood within regulative, normative, and cultural orders that shape institutions and their actors. This study adopts a sociological and historical analysis of neo-institutionalism to examine the political dynamics of nagari. The key problem discussed in this article is how institutional structures, rules, norms, and cultures affect local elites and communities during the consolidation of local democracy in nagari in West Sumatra. A post-positivist explorative method is applied as a tool to dissect and analyze problems with the aims to yield solid, conceptual, and varied findings and data analysis. Analysis and discussion are directed to two findings: first, traditional and modern nagari government institutions; second, consolidation process of nagari institutions in West Sumatra. Overall, the analysis and discussion of the political and governance system of traditional and modern nagari become an interesting object study to thoroughly examine the local democracy consolidation journey occurring in West Sumatra.
Making Informal Politics Work. Case of Local-Direct Election in Bangka Selatan, Indonesia
Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 2017), 2018
The existence of informal actors like local strongman and the like is another consequent of localizing democracy in Indonesia nationwide. This research-based paper aims to analyze the existence of informal actors in influencing and shaping electoral process namely local election in Bangka Selatan, Sumatra, Indonesia. To acknowledge the local-informal actor in this case, researchers employ some theoretical frameworks like informal politics, elites, and Bourdieu's theory of capitals, in concerning the post-authoritarian state and transitional democracy in Indonesia which is signed by informal actors, process and also patronage model. It is obvious then, that money is not always a central actor within electoral process but another factor like informal networks is quite effective and significant ones. This finding will be very contributive to get better and factual understanding in seeing local politics dynamic in the contemporary democratic regime in Indonesia.
Regional& Federal Studies, 2021
In recent years, a sizeable literature on subnational authoritarian regimes in democracies has emerged. In some countries local authoritarian enclaves have persisted despite the democratization of politics at the national level. Even more intriguing, new subnational authoritarian regimes have emerged in the context of national level democratization. Finally, scholars have noted that there is considerable variance in subnational authoritarian regime durability between and within countries. This article will examine why subnational authoritarian regimes have not emerged in Indonesia. Arguably, the difficulties of subnational elites to concentrate control over local economies; the high economic autonomy of voters; and the rigid institutional framework of Indonesia’s decentralized unitary state have inhibited the rise of durable subnational authoritarian regimes in the world’s third largest democracy. One of the first studies on subnational authoritarian regimes in a decentralized unitary state, the article engages and informs the broader literature on subnational authoritarian regimes.