Decentralisation Policy to Strengthen Local Government Capacity in Indonesia
Suparjana
MoHA REpublic of Indonesia
Abstract
The new phase of decentralization in Indonesia started in the reformation era in 2001 and was marked by Law number 22 of 1999 then replaced by Law number 23 0f 2014 regarding Regional Government. It is undeniable that Indonesia has made a lot of important progresses in the implementation of decentralization and local autonomy. However, lack of preparation, lack of organization and unprepared local capacity caused the implementation of decentralization to be marked by various delays. Hence, reinforcing local capacities is a vital element that should be undertaken by Indonesia government to support decentralization. This study should enable us to see the state of local government capacity building and inform us whether or not the local government is capable to govern bigger authorities. This research is conducted using the case study method. Primarily, the research focuses on the local government capacity in Sumedang Regency, which is located in West Java Province. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques of analysis employed in the study. Simple quantitative techniques are mainly used in calculating statistical data particularly in measuring the local governance capacity. Most of the research uses qualitative methods. As far as data collection is concerned, this research uses official data from sources such as the national, provincial and municipal government documents, official statistical year books, and development plans, etc. Based on the field observations, the local governance capacity improvement levels during autonomy implementation at Sumedang Regency has already shown a good improvement by the capability in setting the direction and policy of governance implementation and in reducing the dependence towards the central government in setting local policy. Unfortunately, this level is not fully supported with an implementation of accountability principals and proper transparency.
Keywords: Decentralization, capavity building, local government
Topic: Local Politics and Decentralization