Title: The changing paradigm on governance: the case of Indonesia

Authors: Susi Dwi Harijanti

Addresses: Faculty of Law, Padjadjaran University, Bandung – Indonesia

Abstract: Following the dramatic changes caused by the financial crisis in 1997, and the transition from authoritarian government to more democratic system which marked the era of reformasi, the issue of governance dominated the public discourse in Indonesia. Previously characterised by 'the state-centrism' which led to the practice of 'bad governance' and resulted in the dysfunction of governance system, the governance system has been transformed to be more accommodative to public participation. Indonesia's reformasi activists demand the principle of good governance should be the basis of any Indonesian law reform. In practice, the changes give impact to the three main aspects of governance system, including policy, state institutions, and the relation between the state and its people. In this paper, I argue that changing paradigm on governance is fundamental to the 'formal' improvement of governance system. However, its chances to be fully realised are slow and difficult due to several competing interests between, on the one hand domestic or internal political pressures and, on the other hand, external or international factors.

Keywords: Indonesia; good governance; law reform; authoritarian government; democracy; state centrism; financial crisis; Indonesia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLAP.2015.067781

International Journal of Public Law and Policy, 2015 Vol.5 No.1, pp.77 - 91

Published online: 05 Mar 2015 *

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