Skip to main content

Indonesia's Lessons for the Developing World

From Joshua Kurlantzick at the Atlantic
4 Sept 2012

Over the past decade and a half, Indonesia's democratic transition has been praised (including by me) as one of the most impressive of any developing country in the world. The distance traveled from the chaos, and potential split-up of the country, in the late 1990s, to the relative stability and high growth of today, is truly impressive. 

One of the main aspects of the democratization often highlighted by both Indonesia experts and many Indonesians themselves is how the country utilized political and economic devolution to reduce the power of Jakarta, cut the legacy of Suharto's rule, increase local participation in politics and the economy, and improve citizens' feeling of belonging to the polity.

Decentralization clearly has had many benefits. It has helped broaden and spread growth, and in some ways has helped pit local officials against each other in the race for investment, forcing them to take measures to help attract investment in infrastructure, resources, and agriculture. 

It clearly has helped boost participation in the political process, and has led to a broadening of political ideas in which politicians no longer have to come from Jakarta or even Java to get national prominence and to rise up the political ladder. Devolution also has, in some ways, helped mitigate local anger that natural resources were being taken out of their area and used to fund the central government, with local people getting little in return.

Yet as the International Crisis Group documents in a fascinating new report, in empowering local officials, devolution sometimes empowers the most regressive, corrupt, and undemocratic local politicians, who use their local influence to stymie national-level courts, regulations, and politicians who often are devoted to more constitutional, liberal applications of the law. 

What is the overall conclusion? Everyone is allowed to elect dumb, misguided, or even venal local politicians -- we certainly do so sometimes in the United States. Is the devolution process in Indonesia still, on balance, a net positive? ICG does not really offer a conclusion on this, but I think so, despite the backsliding in some localities.

For detail story visit here 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indonesia's Astra Pins Hopes on Inexpensive Cars

From Wall Street Journal Feb 14, 2013 PT Astra International plans to continue dominating Indonesia's booming car and motorcycle markets by spending billions of dollars on expansion and becoming the first auto maker to sell a car priced to reach the country's emerging middle class. Astra controls 54% of the passenger-car market through joint ventures with Japan's Toyota Motor Corp., Daihatsu Motor Co. and Isuzu Motor Ltd., and holds 58% of the motorcycle-and-scooter market through a joint venture with Honda Motor Co.  To expand the pool of Indonesians who can afford a car, Astra plans next quarter to introduce models with sticker prices as low as $8,000 through its joint ventures with Toyota and Daihatsu. Currently, the least-expensive passenger cars in Indonesia sell for at least $12,000. "We will be the first offering affordable vehicles," he said. "This year, [auto-sales growth] should at the very least be flat, provided this ne...
61 comments
Read more

POSCO to lift Indonesia investment to $11 billion over next 5 years: Jakarta

From Reuters Oct 19, 2012 South Korean steelmaker POSCO will almost double its investment in Indonesia to $11 billion over the next five years, from $6 billion currently, Chief Economics Minister Hatta Rajasa said on Friday. The world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, already has a multi-billion dollar joint venture with Indonesian state-owned PT Krakatau Steel, the country's biggest steel producer. Earlier this year, the South Korean firm's affiliate POSCO Engineering & Construction, formed a consortium to build two 300-megawatt power plants on Indonesia's Sumatra island, worth around $1 billion. A POSCO spokesman in Seoul said the South Korean firm has yet to make detailed investment commitments in Indonesia, and noted other partners would jointly invest in any projects. Foreign direct investment in Indonesia stayed strong in the second quarter, showing the G20 member remained a magnet in a troubled global economy and that changes in mining ownership r...
34 comments
Read more

Indonesia to top China as world's biggest raw sugar importer

From Bloomberg Business Week Sept 19, 2012 Indonesia's struggle to boost sugar output due to competition for land and under-investment is forcing the country to spend heavily and become the world's biggest importer of the sweetener in place of China, which has ramped up domestic output.  Sugar consumption in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country with around 240 million people, is seen growing  around 4 percent annually, according to the  International Sugar Organization  (ISO).  "We forecast that  Indonesia  will import 2.15 million tonnes of raw sugar in 2012/13 (October/September), which will make the country the world's largest raw sugar importer," said Sergey Gudoshnikov, a senior economist with the ISO.  "They are condemned to seek large-scale imports." Yamin Rahman, executive director of the Indonesian Refined Sugar Industry Association, said, "Our raw sugar imports are big because our population is large and ...
12 comments
Read more