Decentralized governance has been a key feature of Indonesian democratization. With the laws on regional autonomy (otonomi daerah) implemented in 2001, local governments acquired substantial policy powers in fields such as economic development, healthcare, education, natural resources and infrastructure. Furthermore, a system of intergovernmental transfers was established as a financing mechanism for local government. As a result, Indonesia today is a multi-level political system in which policy prerogatives are divided across various levels of government.

After one and a half decade of decentralized government, the record of regional autonomy in this large and diverse country appears mixed. On the one hand, many Indonesian regions have seized the opportunity presented by decentralization. Many local politicians and administrators are professional and civic-minded, and some local governments, as I show elsewhere in the context of healthcare, have implemented progressive policies to improve social welfare. On the other hand, however, it is easy to find illustrations of utter failure of the decentralization project, as many district and provincial governments throughout Indonesia remain incompetent, unaccountable and corrupt.

Moreover, local governments have at times used their newly acquired prerogatives to implement exclusionary policies that have marginalized ethno-religious minorities and women, as in the well-known case of local sharia by-laws.

Since the vast literature on Indonesian local politics focuses mostly on political elites, we lack a thorough understanding of how the public perceives and evaluates regional autonomy. How supportive are common Indonesians of multi-level governance? What exactly do they like and dislike in this system of government? Does support for decentralization vary significantly across regions and individuals, and if so, why?

Please click here to read the full article “Support for decentralization and political Islam go together in Indonesia” at ISEAS, Yusof Ishak Institute by Griffith Asia Institute member, Dr Diego Fossati.