Pustaka Ilmiah Universitas Padjadjaran

Abstrak

Local Bureaucracy in the Aftermath of the “Big Bang”: Old Wine in A New Bottle? (Case Studies at Bandung Regency and City of Cirebon)

Local governments in Indonesia had entered yet another new phase following the implementation of democratic decentralization project which was believed to be the largest of its kind in the world (the ‘Big Bang). Undeniably, the implementation of Law No. 22 of 1999 (later amended by Law No. 32 of 2004), which conferred most administrative and political powers to district and city administration and Law No. 25 of 1999 (later amended by Law No. 33 of 2004) which allowed sub-provincial governments to retain most of the after tax revenues generated within their territories, which came into full effect on January 2001 brought significant changes in many regions throughout Indonesia. From the perspective of various progressive provisions within the laws, it is hard not to say that they potentially opened the way for the regions to manage their affairs based on their wishes and priorities and allowed local communities to be actively involved in local politics. Nevertheless, empirical evidence shows that the experiences of regional autonomy across Indonesia have demonstrated that there have been considerable challenges in transcribing such potential into reality. This paper seeks to examine such concern by specifically discussing the case of Bandung District and City of Cirebon, two district level of governments in West Java Province. In this paper, I would argue that while it is true that the transfer of administrative and political power from the central to the local government has brought significant changes in the regional political process, there have not been followed by similar changes in terms of the structure and working procedure of local bureaucracy. Hence, the findings confirm the argument that reform in this pivotal element has been “one of the forgotten elements” of the profound reforms processes that have taken place since late 1990s.