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Incumbent bureaucrats: Why elections undermine civil service reform in Indonesia

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  • Ward Berenschot

Abstract

This article develops an explanation for why democratisation processes sometimes fail to foster effective civil service reform. Using ethnographic fieldwork on the evolving relationship between civil servants and politicians in Lampung, a rural backwater in the southern tip in Sumatra, this paper attributes the ineffectiveness of bureaucratic reform measures in Indonesia to the way in which elections trigger competition over control over state resources. I argue that a merit‐based bureaucracy is particularly difficult to institute when a local bureaucracy enjoys strong discretionary control over the distribution of state resources. During Suharto's authoritarian regime, this control rested largely in the hands of bureaucrats. This authoritarian legacy generates strong incentives for politicians to prefer loyal bureaucrats over capable ones. Politicians need to use bureaucratic appointments as a means to obtain campaign support and to develop control over state resources. In developing these arguments, this paper offers an approach to incorporate informal and clientelistic dimensions of politics more explicitly into analyses of processes of bureaucratic reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Ward Berenschot, 2018. "Incumbent bureaucrats: Why elections undermine civil service reform in Indonesia," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 38(4), pages 135-143, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:padxxx:v:38:y:2018:i:4:p:135-143
    DOI: 10.1002/pad.1838
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    Cited by:

    1. Hang Duong, 2021. "The politicization of civil service recruitment and promotion in Vietnam," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(2), pages 51-62, May.
    2. M. Shamsul Haque, 2020. "Entrepreneurship‐driven public management reforms in Southeast Asia: Critical implications for public accountability," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(4), pages 220-231, October.
    3. Ramanie Samaratunge & Quamrul Alam, 2021. "Accountability and transparency in emerging countries: Governance, democratic currents and change," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(4), pages 147-156, October.
    4. Hassan, Mai & Kodouda, Ahmed, 2023. "Dismantling old or forging new clientelistic ties? Sudan’s civil service reform after uprising," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).

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