Theory of Public Administration

Building Partnerships for Sound Governance

Local Government Cooperation in Indonesia

Erva Wifata HS - NIM. 166030112111006

JOINT DEGREE PROGRAM

MASTER OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
FACULTY OF ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCES
BRAWIJAYA UNIVERSITY
MALANG
2016

Building Partnerships for Sound Governance

The Concept of Sound Governance
We have long been familiar with the term governance, which refers to the relationship
between government and its citizens, thereby enabling policies and programs can be
formulated, implemented, and evaluated. On Good Governance distinguished between the
Government and Governance. Government is more closed and not voluntary, it can not
involve the civil society and the private sector/private in shaping the organizational structure.
In contrast, to the more open nature of governance in the organizational structure and
voluntary. Governance involves all public and private actors in shaping the structure so that it
can put the policies as needed functionality. Governance, viewed from the the dimensions of
the interaction conventions, has the characteristics that are horizontal pattern cooperative
relationship so that more openness.
Good governance has an impact on the limited structure of the developing countries,
while the strength of the world's business continues to expand. Therefore, there should be a
refinement of the paradigm of good governance, one of them is the concept of Sound
Governance which also opens new directions for the future global development (Ali
Farazmand, 2004).
Sound Governance has much comprehensive view with four actors, the state, civil
society, domestic private businesses and the other international actors international power.
International power here include global corporations, organizations and international
agreements. In Sound Governance views, good governance just spin on the interaction
between governments in certain countries, businesses in certain countries and the people in a
particular country. It is very naive, because the fact that the actors were very big and powerful
at the top of these elements are not included in the count. The actor is international power.
Even Ali Farazmand (2004) expressly mention good governance as part of structural
adjustment practices.
The concept of Sound Governance is used to describe a system of government that is
not only clear democratically and and perfect in economic, financial, political, constitutional,
organizational, administrative, managerial and ethical, but also internationally clear in their
interaction with other states and and in their interaction with the part of the government itself.

Innovation is the key to sound governance, and innovation in policy and

administration is central to sound governance. Without innovation policy and administrative,
governance will be entered into in poor condition and ineffective, losing capacity of
governing, and became the target of criticism and failure. Sound governance, therefore,
requires continuous innovation in policy and administrative processes, structures and value
systems. Innovations in technology, resource development, communication systems,
organization and management, training and development, research, and as the core of the
other areas that are important to the clarity of governance and administration.
Policy innovation in governance is considered essential to adapt in a rapidly changing
environment as a result of globalization. It is clearly important for the formation and capacity
building of government and for sound governance. Failure to innovate means failure to adapt,
build capacity, and undertake effective governance. Innovation policy and administration will
facilitate the establishment and improvement of managerial capacity, administrative and
governance, not only in maintaining the performance to remain high but also in anticipation
of facing the challenges of globalization.
One form of local government innovation which can be adopted in achieving sound
governance is building a partnership. In the context of sound governance, partnership is
essential and requires genuine participation of the stakeholders, meaning all citizens who
have stakes in the governance process. The leading role of the state is very important for
encouraging and building meaningful partnerships among various sectors of society at all
levels because many countries lack strong, independent private sector and civil organizations
(Farazmand, 2004). Partnership, therefore, has become a central requirement of good
governance and sound governance in the contemporary global environment.
Governance partnerships are important for a number of reasons (Farazmand, 2004):
1. Partnerships promote creativity, innovation, synergy, a stronger ability to tackle big
problems, participation, and responsibility.
2. Partnership is important because of

the

increasing

interdependence

and

interconnectedness among peoples, nation-states, cultures, governments, and

nongovernmental civil organizations.
3. Globalization and global issues have created a formidable necessity in building global
partnerships for all levels of governance.
4. Global problems such as environmental deterioration, wars, ethnic conflicts, poverty
and health crises, and migration and refugee problems, are beyond any governments
capacity to solve.

5. The global exchange of information has become very easy. Internet and other
computer applications have enabled citizens around the world to communicate and
share information of mutual interests and concern almost anywhere on the planet.
6. Learning organizations are adapting to the rapid changes of their environments by
acquiring information about their surrounding environments.
7. Partnerships contribute to involvement, the quality of positive governance, and
service delivery, administration, political support, and stability among governments,
citizens, private sectors, and NGOs.
8. Partnerships require genuine participation, which contributes to democratic, sound
governance and sustainable development for a better civilization.
9. The financial-economic motives for partnership concern, for example, the limited
financial capacity of governments for investments, which makes the prospects of
private sector co-financing very important.
10. The strategic-managerial motives for partnership concerns the central issues of
efficiency through the application of business-like measures of costeffectiveness,
cost-control, and other criteria used in the private sector.
Level And Models Of Partnership Building
Partnerships take many forms and several levels: global, national, and local. In the
global level, partnerships can be built between governments, governments and civil societies,
NGOs and governments, regional governmental alliances and individual national
governments, private sectors and global/national governments, and global peoplecentered
movements such as environmentalists and other independent social organizations. In this
level, partnerships are important in solving many problems of global scale and in promoting
opportunities for global citizens. In the national level, partnerships can be built by national
governments with the civil society, NGOs, stakeholders, and private sector. Here,
partnerships can take the forms of marketstate, statecitizens, statecivil society,
governmentNGOs, governmentself-governing organizations, stateregional organizations,
sectoral functionscivil society/private sectors in health and education and others,
governmentuniversity,

intergovernmental

organizations,

publicprivate

enterprises,

nationallocal governments, and national stateregional government cooperation. In the local

level, partnerships can be built in the forms of governmentcitizens relationships,
governmentnongovernmental and civic organizations, religious/cultural organizations
governments,

universitygovernment

relationships,

civil

society

and

professional

organizationsgovernments, local governmentprivate sector, and local governmentglobal

corporations, supranational agencies, governments, and NGOs. These forms of partnerships

can enhance the quality of governance at the local level and produce outcomes that are far
superior to the traditional unilateral forms of government. They promote economic
development, help prevent and reduce many social problems such as poverty and crime,
tackle waste management problems, and reduce other pressures facing urbanization and local
governance in general.
Several models can be considered for building partnership in governance process.
There were five models of partnership proposed by Farazaman (2004) :
1. The autonomous model of partnership is built on the premise of independence
exercised by all parties on an equal basis. The strategies to build this kind of
partnership may include (a) state initiation with NGOs, citizens, and private sector;
(b) initiation through proposals and policy idea formulations with government by all
other partners; and (c) third-party initiation to pull governmental and othernparties
into partnership building at local and national levels. At the global level, the
autonomous model is most applicable where national sovereignty is preserved through
independent strategies.
2. The interdependence model is very common among nation-states at regional and
global levels. Such a partnership is based on the premise that all parties are living in
an interdependent world in which no one is self-sufficient or has the capability and
resources to deal with problems of an interdependent world.
3. The globalization-convergence model is premised on the forces of globalization
finance, production, marketing, state and political integration, and cultural, economic,
and policy convergence. Unless correctly and fairly applied, partnership building can
become an important structural and instrumental adjustment for paving the way for
economic, cultural, and policy convergence to the globally dominant forces of power
structure, meaning the globalizing transworld corporations and the dominant and
interventionist state that promotes the corporate culture of consumerism,
homogenization of various individualistic Western cultures, and all of its
concomitants.
4. The hybrid model is a combination of the three models above. It is hybrid in that it
resembles features of all models, yet it may display its own distinct characteristics. It
is more suitable for more developed nations with massive institutional and resource
capacity, but it puts less-developed nations at a disadvantage because their ability to
maneuver around policy choices is limited, especially with regard to the application of
autonomous and globalization models.

5. The elite model is the most common feature of modern governance partnership
building, with the premise that eliteseconomic-corporate and political elites
dominate the policy arena of governance almost everywhere (see Farazmand, 1999b).
The elite model is a common practice among governmentsoften dominated by
business/corporate eliteswith similar elites at other levels of governance, and with
other governments controlled by elites.
Regional Cooperation Between Countries in the Framework of Regional Autonomy
One of the results of reform that deserves to get appreciation was promulgation of
legal instruments that ensure the implementation of regional autonomy. Although regional
autonomy itself is not new because it has gained attention since the reign of Sukarno, and
even since colonial rule, but the ideal shape and its implementation has generated a lot of
debate among scientists, politicians, and public officials.
In the Sukarno era, for example, statements about the autonomy contained in Law No.
1/ 1945, Law No. 22 /1948, and followed by Law No. 1 / 1957. One year before, also issued
law No. 32/1956 which regulates the financial balance between the central and regions. In the
New Order era, we knew of Law No. 5 of 1974 which confirms that decentralization focused
on the second level regions. Then during the 1998 crisis which brought Indonesia into a chaos
condition, the emergence of MPR Decree N0. XV / MPR / 1998, which mandates the need
realization of regional autonomy, setting, sharing and utilization of national resources is
equitable and financial balance between central and local government, which was followed
by the issuance of Law No. 22 of 1999 on Regional Government and Law No. 25 of 1999 on
Financial Balance between Central and Local Government. After a period of reform, where
the implementation of regional autonomy is considered good enough, issued Act No. 32 of
2004 on Regional Government and Law No. 33 of 2004 on Financial Balance between
Central and Local Government as a manifestation of improvement the previous Law. Thus,
the issue of regional autonomy has long been debated in the governance of Indonesia,
especially in the context of the relationship between central and local government.
The underlying foundation of the implementation of decentralization and regional
autonomy that autonomy is intended to improve public services, and improving public
welfare through the provision of greater authority to the regions. Through this authority, is
expected to grow the instigation or the initiative and creativity to leverage the potential of the
local area, and become more responsive to the existing problems. In other words, through the
implementation of regional autonomy, local governments are expected to be increasingly able

to work effectively and efficiently serve and respond to the demands of society, and to solve
existing problems.
Through the implementation of autonomy, local governments are expected to be more
creative in developing the potential in their respective regions, so that they will be able to
carry out local development. Citizen welfare as is to be realized through the implementation
of this autonomy may only be achieved if the regions are able to develop their potential as
major capital to do the development. Therefore, local government officials must be creative
in developing any potential they have in an effort to increase revenue (PAD). The increase in
revenue can be obtained through the management of regional companies efficiently so as to
generate huge profits, utilization of natural resources, or through taxes and withdrawal of
investment to the area so that it will spur economic growth. To attract this investment, local
governments should be able to develop an efficient bureaucracy, not corrupt, democratic, and
friendly towards investment.
To achieve this goal, need innovation of local government. One possible solution is to
establish cooperation with other regions, and even globally can establish cooperation with
other countries. Within the framework of regional autonomy, inter-regional cooperation
between countries is intended to boost regional competitiveness, not only at national level but
also at international level through exchange of information, resources, expertise, and
technology. Normatively, inter-regional cooperation between countries has also been
facilitated by the Regulation of the Minister of Internal Affair No. 3 of 2008 on Guidelines
for Local Government Cooperation with Foreign Parties. This regulation is set forms of
cooperation as follows:
1. Provincional cooperation or Twin/Sister City,
2. Technical cooperation including humanitarian aid,
3. Cooperation of Capital Investment, and
4. Another partnership accordance to law and regulation
A CASE STUDY OF GORONTALO SRI LANKA
Cooperation between Gorontalo Province and Southern Province of Sri Lanka which
is mediated by UNDP is a good example of the implementation of regional autonomy. When
other areas faced obstacles of inter-regional cooperation and busy competing with each other
to build their own region, Gorontalo province has stepped forward to build international
cooperation with the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Cooperation developed covering
important areas such as education, agriculture, and health. Gorontalo studying the free

education system of Sri Lanka, while Sri Lanka to learn about the development of corn
commodity. Gorontalo interested in learning the free education system because Sri Lanka
despite as the poor country but successful in developing a free education for all societies.
While Sri Lanka are interested in studying the corn management because Gorontalo capable
of producing corn to penetrate international markets and certainly have a positive impact on
the farmers welfare.
At present, it has been growing awareness of the importance of regional cooperation
in Indonesia. Some local governments have worked together intensively to solve the various
problems and issues across the region. For example, the regional management of five
regional cooperation (Banjarnegara, Purbalingga, Banyumas, Cilacap and Kebumen) or better
known as Barlingmascakeb, Kartamantul (Yogyakarta, Sleman, and Bantul), Bandung Raya,
and others. However, future trends indicate that inter-regional cooperation involving not only
internal partners, but can also reach out to external strategic partners. The phenomenon of
inter-regional cooperation between countries and even between regions indicate there has
been a change of government from the classic bureaucracy to the sound governance. The
concept of new public management are implemented in the form of local autonomy and
combined with a partnership governance, show the big attention of the government in
reforming the bureaucracy.
Inter-regional cooperation between countries can be defined as an agreement of two
or more local governments from different countries in order to realize the common goal,
providing a service or resolve the same problems (Patterson, 2008). What was done by
Gorontalo Province and Southern Province of Sri Lanka was agreed to cooperate in areas of
their needs.
Cooperation between Gorontalo Province and Southern Province of Sri Lanka, made
by the two countries that have a comparative advantage. It means each country has their own
excellent potential, which is not owned by the partner. Gorontalo Province leading in
production and management of corn comodity, meanwhile Southern Province of Sri Lanka
has been experienced in the management of the education system. In economic perspective,
cooperation transaction between two countries with this kind of character would be easily to
occur rather than having the same character. With different character of comparative
advantage, both of the province can work together without compete each other. Instead, they
will help each other in accordance advantages of each.
There are many models of cooperation or collaboration among regions. One of them
is the interdependence model (Farazmand, 2004). Cooperation between Gorontalo Province

and Southern Sri Lanka can be classified in interdependence models. This model explains the
relationship intergovernmental collaboration. The parties that cooperate, especially public
officials interdependent on each other because they need the resources of each to support the
achievement of their goals. The cooperation is not limited to public officials but also can
extend reach public-private partnerships.
Opportunities
Development of inter-regional cooperation between countries like Gorontalo Province
and Southern Province Sri Lanka provide some opportunities as follows::
1. Exchange of information, technical capabilities, and technology through various
international agreements. Through collaboration each of them will get information
resources, technical assistance, and technology. Successful experience of other
countries would provide important lessons for partners to develop the capacity and
innovation program.
2. Mentoring and funding from UNDP. With the facility of these funds, the regions will
explore cooperation with other regions of the country and will have mediation
services, technical assistance and funding activities from UNDP. At least, to the early
stages of the assessment and implementation of cooperation programs, the local
budgets can be minimize.
3. Building broader network cooperation with various regions in other countries. With a
wide network, the area will have an attraction and making it easier to attract various
resources included investments from both domestic and foreign.
Obstacle
Inter-regional cooperation needs to be developed, because of the benefits to be
achieved. In addition, of course there are also many challenges to be faced. Some of these
challenges include :
1. Leadership.
Public leadership which has a future vision and sensitive to environmental change is
often difficult to find in the local government bureaucracy.
2. Institutional Regulation
Institutional regulation often considered, does not protect inter-regional cooperation
that has taken place mainly on issue of ambiguity financial management regulation.
3. Funding
Budget limitations for assessment of the cooperation will make local governments
think twice to realize it.

Conclusion
Model inter-regional cooperation between countries offers a bright prospect. Many
experience the success of an area that could be utilized as an innovation in development.
Regional autonomy has brought a positive impact to the local government because it can be
more creative in developing the potential in the area so they will be able to provide excellent
public service and welfare for society. Through the cooperation pattern that the more
extensive and involve external actors, regional competitiveness becomes higher. Local
government can be more independent, especially in terms of budget. Flexibility of local
government to innovate in increasing revenue, impact on its budget. Realizing the quality of
public services are no longer constrained financing, although the budget from central
government still needed but the use of money can be maximized for the welfare.
Various opportunities are available on the development of inter-regional cooperation
between countries such as: the exchange of resources, technical assistance, and technology,
funding facilities, and development of a network of cooperation to accelerate development.
However, the institutional challenges need to be immediately addressed by local and national
governments through strengthening the leadership and capacity of the provincial government,
the regulation and the clear technical provision of implementation and adequate funding.

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Law No. 32 of 2004 on Local Government.
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(Peluang, Tantangan & Permasalahan). Article
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