Thematic study on local regimes

Leading researchers: Professor Purwo Santoso, PhD & Novadona Bayo, MA

Indonesia is comprised of diverse institutional frameworks, each embodying particular structures for power relations. While in many cases the frameworks are informal, they are also highly influential and shape local politics. Each region is governed according to a specified regime. Local regimes vary by geography, culture and time. The issue that requires further study is not only the diversity of local regimes, but also differences in the level of potential for, as well as challenges to democratisation—at the local level and across the nation. A local assessment will inform strategies to deepen democracy within local regimes.

While the establishment of a coherent and nationwide institutional framework for governance is important, so is acknowledging the existence and functionality of diverse local regimes. The extensive and rapid decentralisation process nationwide, following the 2004 enactment of regional autonomy laws, increased the prominence of local regimes. The successful establishment of democratic process nationwide requires a clear understanding of the diverse characteristics and functions of local regimes. An assessment of local regimes will not only allow for the mapping of the potential for and challenges to democratisation within each each locality; it will also ensure that the nationwide democratic framework accounts for regional differences. To date, the need for a local democracy assessment has not been articulated, due to two misguided assumptions: The first is the prevalence of formalistic understandings of democracy, which assume that democratisation is a top-down process. This leads to the belief that changes in policy within the national government will automatically and effectively be implemented at the local level. The second assumption regards the assumption that citizens’ right to participate in political process within a democratic system automatically leads to the institutionalisation of democratic values and practices.

This study will also continue a tradition of research on local politics at UGM. The university’s renowned postgraduate program on regional politics and autonomy attracts both students from across Indonesia as well as international students with an interest in the country’s regional politics.

The researchers enrich existing methods for assessing democratisation with an analytical category of supplementary democratic institutions to assess regional differences. This will also allow for the identification of linkages between representation and participation. In addition to the issue of rights-based democracy, this study will also analyse perspectives on achieving the social welfare that is crucial in diverse, new democracies like Indonesia.

Deepening democracy from the bottom up

In order to achieve the main objective of this research—to account for regional democracies in order to deepen democracy nationwide—this research will include an analysis of existing local regimes and their responses to both the democratisation process and institutional frameworks handed down by the national government, and the identification of the potential for, and challenges to deepening democracy in diverse regional contexts.

It is hoped that this research will result in an approach to democratisation that is compatible with Indonesia’s regional diversity. Specifically, the results of this research may serve to inform future democratisation agendas, especially at the local level, in order to encourage a consideration of the uniqueness of various local contexts in Indonesia. Thus, it is also expected that efforts to institutionalise democracy at the local level will encourage broader roles for diverse citizens and inform the shape of democracy in diverse contexts.