Public Sector Reforms and Financial Transparency: Experiences from Indonesian Districts

Abstract

As in many Asian, African, and Latin American countries, democratization and devolution reforms have characterized the recent development of public management in Indonesia. This article analyses the current development of "good governance" in Indonesian local government. The main objective is to assess the level of transparency, the mechanisms for hiding, and the extent of corruption in district budgeting and accounting. The empirical data consists of 200 in-depth interviews with members of the executive, legislative and civil society institutions in six districts. The article concludes that national systems and traditions of politics and bureaucracy have a strong negative impact on local administrative procedures, leaving only marginal space for regional Public Sector Reforms and Financial Transparency 65 variance and improvements. There is a remarkable lack of transparency, and checks and balances in public financial affairs are largely absent in all districts.

Public Sector Financial Management Reform: A Case Study of Local Government Agencies in Indonesia

“…The Indonesian Public Sector Accounting Infrastructure Wallace and Briston (1993) argue that the basic elements of accounting infrastructure (i.e., the demand, supply and regulation of accounting information) are influenced by a country's political, economic, social, educational and cultural factors (see Appendix 1), and that the national accounting infrastructure programme suitable for a country would depend on the circumstances of the country. In the context of Indonesia, Kristiansen et al (2008) report that national systems and traditions of politics and bureaucracy have a strong negative impact on local administrative procedures, leaving only marginal space for regional variance and improvements. They further argue that there is a remarkable lack of transparency and checks and balances in public financial affairs in Indonesia.…”

The Complexities of Regional Development Planning Reform: The Indonesian Case

“…Corruption has become a highly popular phenomenon in Indonesia and it always adorns the news on Indonesian social media. A pessimistic tone regarding corruption in Indonesia was expressed by Natasha (2001) two decades ago and it was assumed to continue expanding from the central government to all the regions in Indonesia, involving officials in the executive, legislative, and even judicial branch (Kristiansen et al, 2008). Given the prevailing political conditions, it seems that local political elites compete in amassing power by conducting corruption to defeat their political enemies (Tomsa, 2015).…”

Transparency of the Executive Government of Brazilian States

“…Mesmo a transparência sendo regulamentada pela legislação, ela pode ser interpretada de diferentes formas e não necessariamente alcançar os objetivos pretendidos pelo legislador (KRISTIANSEN et al, 2009). Diferentes entendimentos sobre o tema representam um dos argumentos que os autores utilizam para sustentar a importância da transparência, permitindo ao cidadão conhecer e confiar em seus representantes no poder.…”