IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/padxxx/v45y2025i2p159-172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Why Democratization and Decentralization in Indonesia Have Mixed Results on the Ground: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Andi Rahmat Hidayat
  • Otto Hospes
  • C. J. A. M. Termeer

Abstract

Indonesia has been subject to democratization and decentralization since Suharto's resignation in 1998. Whilst these two institutional reforms have attracted the attention of many scholars, no one has provided an overview explaining their mixed results. To address this gap, we conduct a systematic review of democratization and decentralization literature in Indonesia, exploring how democratization and decentralization relate and identifying moderators (constraining or supporting contextual factors) of the effects of the two institutional reforms. Our first finding is that the actual processes of democratization and decentralization may undermine each other. Our second finding is that clientelistic informal state institutions together with capture by old predatory elites in the context of legal fragmentation negatively affect outcomes of democratization and decentralization processes, whereas citizen collective action and reform‐oriented leadership positively affect them. Based on our findings, we present an advanced framework and three lessons for future studies on democratization and decentralization.

Suggested Citation

  • Andi Rahmat Hidayat & Otto Hospes & C. J. A. M. Termeer, 2025. "Why Democratization and Decentralization in Indonesia Have Mixed Results on the Ground: A Systematic Literature Review," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(2), pages 159-172, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:padxxx:v:45:y:2025:i:2:p:159-172
    DOI: 10.1002/pad.2095
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/pad.2095
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/pad.2095?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Alm & Robert Aten & Roy Bahl, 2001. "Can Indonesia Decentralise Successfully? Plans, Problems And Prospects," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 83-102.
    2. World Bank, 2003. "Decentralizing Indonesia : A Regional Public Expenditure Review Overview Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 14632, The World Bank Group.
    3. Inhye Heo, 2018. "The Paradox of Administrative Decentralization Reform in Young Asian Democracies: South Korea and Indonesia," World Affairs, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 181(4), pages 372-402, December.
    4. Gonschorek, Gerrit J., 2021. "Subnational favoritism in development grant allocations: Empirical evidence from decentralized Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Christian von Luebke, 2009. "The political economy of local governance: findings from an Indonesian field study," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 201-230.
    6. Lewis, Blane D. & Nguyen, Hieu T.M. & Hendrawan, Adrianus, 2020. "Political accountability and public service delivery in decentralized Indonesia: Incumbency advantage and the performance of second term mayors," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cisneros, Elías & Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Nuryartono, Nunung, 2021. "Palm oil and the politics of deforestation in Indonesia," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Jahen F. Rezki, 2022. "Political competition and economic performance: evidence from Indonesia," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 83-114, June.
    3. Takahiro Akita & Awaludin Aji Riadi & Ali Rizal, 2019. "Fiscal Disparities in Indonesia under Decentralization: To What Extent Has General Allocation Grant(DAU) Equalized Fiscal Revenues?," Working Papers EMS_2019_05, Research Institute, International University of Japan.
    4. Takahiro Akita & Sachiko Miyata, 2018. "Spatial Inequalities in Indonesia, 1996–2010: A Hierarchical Decomposition Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 829-852, August.
    5. Takahiro Akita & Awaludin Aji Riadi & Ali Rizal, 2021. "Fiscal disparities in Indonesia in the decentralization era: Does general allocation fund equalize fiscal revenues?," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(6), pages 1842-1865, December.
    6. Victoria A Beard, 2005. "Individual Determinants of Participation in Community Development in Indonesia," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 23(1), pages 21-39, February.
    7. World Bank, 2003. "Decentralizing Indonesia : A Regional Public Expenditure Review Overview Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 14632, The World Bank Group.
    8. Manof Shresta, 2002. "An Overview of Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Nepal," International Center for Public Policy Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0205, International Center for Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.
    9. Skoufias, Emmanuel & Narayan, Ambar & Dasgupta, Basab & Kaiser, Kai, 2011. "Electoral accountability, fiscal decentralization and service delivery in Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5614, The World Bank.
    10. Paul Pelzl & Steven Poelhekke, 2023. "Democratization, leader education and growth: firm-level evidence from Indonesia," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 571-600, December.
    11. Alberto Alesina & Caterina Gennaioli & Stefania Lovo, 2019. "Public Goods and Ethnic Diversity: Evidence from Deforestation in Indonesia," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 86(341), pages 32-66, January.
    12. World Bank, 2009. "Local Government Discretion and Accountability : Application of a Local Governance Framework," World Bank Publications - Reports 12588, The World Bank Group.
    13. Milawati Milawati & Abdul Rozak Fahrudin, 2021. "How is the Performance of Education in Indonesia?," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 11(1), pages 29-35.
    14. Peter Timmer, 2018. "Pro-poor growth in Indonesia: Challenging the pessimism of Myrdal's Asian Drama," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-103, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Bambang Brodjonegoro & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, 2004. "An Analysis of Indonesia's Transfer System: Recent Performance and Future Prospects," Chapters, in: James Alm & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Sri Mulyani Indrawati (ed.), Reforming Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and the Rebuilding of Indonesia, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Kuncoro, Ari, 2002. "The new laws of decentralization and corruption in Indonesia:examination of provincial and district data," ERSA conference papers ersa02p053, European Regional Science Association.
    17. Green, Keith, 2005. "Decentralization and good governance: The case of Indonesia," MPRA Paper 18097, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Fernando Antonio Ignacio González & Lara Sofia Cantero & Pablo Ariel Szyszko, 2022. "Favoritismo Regional en Argentina," Working Papers 199, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    19. Shah, Anwar & Thompson, Theresa, 2004. "Implementing decentralized local governance: a treacherous road with potholes, detours, and road closures," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3353, The World Bank.
    20. Skoufias, Emmanuel & Narayan, Ambar & Dasgupta, Basab & Kaiser, Kai, 2014. "Electoral accountability and local government spending in Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6782, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:padxxx:v:45:y:2025:i:2:p:159-172. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0271-2075 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.