Analyzing the Influence of Decentralization on Governance Quality and Public Service Delivery in Indonesia

Authors

  • Firman Rauf Universitas Ihsan Gorontalo, Indonesia

Keywords:

Decentralization, Local Governance, Public Service Delivery, Political Decentralization, Fiscal Autonomy

Abstract

Decentralization has received broader support as a reform in governance to increase local government performance and better service delivery. This paper examines the effects of political, administrative and fiscal decentralization on local governance and public service provision in Indonesia. Data was collected through a cross-sectional quantitative survey method from 200 LG officials and 500 citizens in different municipalities and districts. The study used stratified random sampling in order to increase chances of getting both residents of the urban and the rural areas. This paper employed structured questionnaires and the official record review to collect data on governance efficiency, resource allocation, accountability for services, and citizens’ satisfaction levels of services in the education sector, health sector, and the infrastructure sector. The findings suggest that political decentralization has the highest positive correlation with governance quality in other domains, including transparency, accountability and citizens’ involvement. Administrative decentralization enhances service delivery efficiency most apparent in urban areas but fiscal decentralization has a moderate impact, reduced fiscal authority is an indication that decentralization should be encouraged to foster efficiency in resource allocation. However, issues of equitable distribution of governance quality and service outcomes across the country is a challenge with rural regions lagging behind the urban regions. This research fills the literature gap by examining and comparing the specific effects of the multiple types of decentralization on governance and service delivery in a developing country setting. The study points to the need for policy target based on the situation to enable decentralisation policy to deliver social equity in various regions.

References

Berhanu, K. Z., & Gobie, D. (2023). Adequacy of capacity building and stakeholder involvement in decentralized education management: evidence from Ethiopia. Cogent Social Sciences, 9(2), 2247151. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2247151

Faguet, J. P., & Shami, M. (2022). The incoherence of institutional reform: decentralization as a structural solution to immediate political needs. Studies in Comparative International Development, 57(1), 85-112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12116-021-09347-4

Gasco-Hernandez, M., Nasi, G., Cucciniello, M., & Hiedemann, A. M. (2022). The role of organizational capacity to foster digital transformation in local governments: The case of three European smart cities. Urban Governance, 2(2), 236-246. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ugj.2022.09.005

Hanson, A. H. (2022). Decentralization. In Planning and the Politicians (pp. 104-126). Routledge.

Holmes, P. K. (2021). Citizen Involvement in the Formulation of Public Policy in USA. Journal of Public Policy & Governance, 5(3), 11-20.

Ispiryan, A., Venclovienė, I., Pakeltienė, R., Dautartė, A., Kraujutienė, I., & Rodino, S. (2024). Analysis of smart solutions and behavioral nudges: strategies for increasing public involvement in European biodiversity conservation. Management Theory and Studies for Rural Business and Infrastructure Development, 46(3), 393-408.

Jong, D., Tsvetkova, A., Lembcke, A. C., & Ahrend, R. (2021). A comprehensive approach to understanding urban productivity effects of local governments: Local autonomy, government quality and fragmentation. https://doi.org/10.1787/267a6231-en

Ledent, G., & Salembier, C. (2021). Co-Housing to Ease and Share Household Chores? Spatial Visibility and Collective Deliberation as Levers for Gender Equality. Buildings, 11(5), 189. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11050189

Lin, B., & Zhou, Y. (2021). Does fiscal decentralization improve energy and environmental performance? New perspective on vertical fiscal imbalance. Applied Energy, 302, 117495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.117495

Mosley, J. E., & Wong, J. (2021). Decision-making in collaborative governance networks: Pathways to input and throughput legitimacy. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 31(2), 328-345. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muaa044

Muwonge, A., Williamson, T. S., Owuor, C., & Kinuthia, M. (2022). Making devolution work for service delivery in Kenya. World Bank Publications.

Orlov, V., Khamidov, O., Poliakova, V., & Shylova, V. (2020, March). The problem of decentralization of public power in the context of territorial’s independence. In III International Scientific Congress Society of Ambient Intelligence 2020 (ISC-SAI 2020) (pp. 370-377). Atlantis Press. https://doi.org/10.17268/sciendo.2022.031

Ramírez de la Cruz, E. E., Grin, E. J., Sanabria‐Pulido, P., Cravacuore, D., & Orellana, A. (2020). The transaction costs of government responses to the COVID‐19 emergency in Latin America. Public Administration Review, 80(4), 683-695. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13259

Ranta, E. (2022). Ethnography of the state in plurinational Bolivia: Indigenous knowledge, clientelism and decolonizing bureaucracy. In State and statehood in the global south: Theoretical approaches and empirical studies (pp. 221-237). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94000-3_11

Ruan, J., & Wang, P. (2023). Elite capture and corruption: the influence of elite collusion on village elections and rural land development in China. The China Quarterly, 253, 107-122. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0305741022001217

Sai, A. R., Buckley, J., Fitzgerald, B., & Le Gear, A. (2021). Taxonomy of centralization in public blockchain systems: A systematic literature review. Information Processing & Management, 58(4), 102584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2021.102584

Sofyani, H., Riyadh, H. A., & Fahlevi, H. (2020). Improving service quality, accountability and transparency of local government: The intervening role of information technology governance. Cogent Business & Management, 7(1), 1735690. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2020.1735690

Wang, K. H., Liu, L., Adebayo, T. S., Lobonț, O. R., & Claudia, M. N. (2021). Fiscal decentralization, political stability and resources curse hypothesis: a case of fiscal decentralized economies. Resources Policy, 72, 102071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2021.102071

Downloads

Published

2024-08-15