ANALYSIS OF INDONESIAN PUBLIC SERVICE ISSUES IN THE NEW ERA BASED ON PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PERSPECTIVE

 

Arip Rahman Sudrajat

Universitas Sebelas April, West Java, Indonesia

Email: [email protected]

 

Article Information

 

ABSTRACT

Received: December 23, 2022

Revised: January 05, 2023

Approved: January 10, 2023

Online: January 13, 2023

 

 

Public trust is an important variable in improving public services. However, the existence of unhealthy protests and demonstrations indicates the current bad public services. This study aims to analyze the issue of public services in Indonesia in a new era from an administrative perspective. The research method used in writing this scientific article is to use the method of literature study (library research) using qualitative and descriptive analysis. The New Public Service and Good Governance perspective is considered the most appropriate to answer the current condition of public service problems in Indonesia. This is supported by a more democratic political situation and open government. To effectively implement this point of view, it can be implemented using various models such as the Citizen Charter model, the KYC (Know Your Customer) model, and the Mobile Government model.

Keywords

 

public service; Indonesian public service; new era; administrative

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Village administration is a community service activity carried out by the village head and village level apparatus institutions, with the aim that the people in the village can live in prosperity (Gao & Wu, 2017). Serving the community is the main goal of public administration. Looking at Indonesia today, the delivery of public services is a strategic issue, because often there are no major developments, but the impact is very broad, because it covers all aspects of life such as economic, social, political and cultural (Martínez‐Vázquez et al., 2017).

Improvement in public services will improve the investment climate which this country desperately needs to emerge from the prolonged economic crisis (Rogerson, 2014). Unfortunately, the improvement efforts are still limited to lip service. In various studies on public services, it seems that this is not linear with the reforms carried out across sectors, so that investment growth is actually negative (Meriyani et al., 2022). As a result, the hope that economic growth could help the country emerge from various economic crises did not materialize as expected (Koshovets & Frolov, 2014).

Serving the public has become the main goal of public administration. In Indonesia, the delivery of public services is becoming an increasingly strategic policy issue, because improvements in public services in this country are often stagnant, while the impact is known to be very broad, because it involves economic, social, political, cultural and other life (Bryson et al., 2014). In the economic field, poor public services will lead to reduced investment, which will result in termination of industrial employment and the absence of new jobs, which will also have an impact on increasing unemployment (Markusen, 2017). A further consequence of this problem is the emergence of social insecurity (Shi, 2012).

The impact of poor public services in the economic field is reduced investment which can lead to the discontinuation of work relations between industries, and the loss of new jobs which can increase unemployment in Indonesia (Porter & Heppelmann, 2014). Improving public services can be a solution to overcome the long-term economic crisis with the investment needed to improve the country. But this is not limited to pleasantries (Mintz, 2021).

According to research results, Indonesian public services have not been utilized optimally so that the results obtained are not in line with expectations, and even have a negative impact. As a result, plans to help the country emerge from the economic crisis did not go as smoothly as hoped. Another impact on political life is the decline in public trust in the government.

Public trust is an important variable to improve public services. However, the existence of unhealthy protests and demonstrations shows the current bad public services. Related to this, it is absolutely necessary to improve public services and harmonize daily activities. If the public service provided to the community is good, then public trust becomes energy in the process of public service.

From a sociocultural perspective, poor public services cause social and psychological chaos, which is manifested in reduced mutual respect between communities, emergence of mutual suspicion, and excessive increase in exclusivity, which in turn creates tension between society and society. local government is indifferent. The existence of anarchist riots is a clear manifestation of this lack of attention. Therefore, people tend to really think negative things and engage in all kinds of irrational and illegal behavior.

 

METHODS

Methodology for writing scientific articles uses the library research method, through qualitative and descriptive analysis, namely outlining the thoughts or views of the author and then explaining their relation to expert theories as well as several previous studies, so as to produce better reflections on the focus of the discussion (Sugiyono, 2012).

 

RESULTS

A.  Definition and Conditions of Public Services

Definition and Background of Public Services Public services are delivered primarily to humans. As social beings, humans do need the services of other people in their life journey. In other words, people and services cannot be separated from one another. Humans need service from birth and, as stated in (Rusli et al., 2020), throughout his life. Terms used by Rusli According to (Rusli et al., 2020) Theory of Leadership Life Cycle, the human constitution has been highly underserved since the beginning of time. As they get older, less services are needed. Quality public services are the demands of society against bureaucrats every day. However, often the results are not as expected.

There are processes that are slow, complicated, laborious, expensive and uncertain for society. This situation shows that it is the bureaucracy itself that is being served, not the community. Verbatim in public service can be described conceptually. According to Kotler quoted in (Arfan et al., 2021), services are any profitable activities in a group or unit that provide satisfaction even though the results are not physically related to the product.

Law Number 25 of 2009 concerning Public Services states that public service is an activity or series of activities in the context of fulfilling service needs, in accordance with the needs of every citizen and resident for goods, services and/or public service administration to provide administrative services. Public services basically touch every aspect of life. In national life, the function of the Makai government is to provide various public services needed by the community, including services in the form of regulations or other services to meet community needs in the fields of education, health, public utilities, and others (Arfan et al., 2021).

In the early 1990s, developed countries carried out public reforms that were formed due to social pressure on the quality of government services at that time. For example, the United States developed this public service process through scientific papers written by experts through the emergence of a post-bureaucratic paradigm (Van Veelen et al., 2018). The post-bureaucratic view of public service is manifested in an emphasis on results of public administration, benefits to society, quality and value, products and norms, as well as mission priorities, services and results. In the same period, Osborne and Gaebler proposed a reinventing government paradigm (Maranto, 2018), which was then implemented by Osborne and Plastrik in 1997 in their book, Destroying Bureaucracy: Five Strategies for Reinventing Government. Another name for this paradigm is New Public Management. The essence of this paradigm is to provide proper understanding. In other words, the government must serve the people well.

Another explanation is through the work of JV Denhardt and RB Denhardt in their book The New Public Service (Denhardt & Baker, 2018). The perspective of this paradigm is closely related to service, namely public administration must serve citizens, not control them. According to the new paradigm of public service, public service must prioritize the public interest. The government is tasked with negotiating and articulating the various interests of citizens and various community groups. Community development is always dynamic, so the government must always follow the development of society. In addition, this new model of public service must be non-discriminatory, because the rationale used refers to democratic theory which guarantees equality of citizens regardless of origin, ethnicity, race, ethnicity, religion and party background (Widanti, 2022).

 

B.  Public Service Issues in Indonesia

Various theories, methods, perspectives, and paradigms, both related to public services, are constantly changing to meet the dynamic needs of society in developed countries and other parts of the world. This shift aims to create a better, more efficient, responsive and community-oriented public service framework.

For developing countries, including Indonesia, the wave of pressure to change the face of government and the workings of its public service machine cannot be separated from pressure from international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank or other donor agencies. This is inseparable from the interests of these institutions operating in Indonesia.

The need to improve public services is sometimes the main prerequisite for obtaining assistance (loans) from international agencies or donor countries. Like the IMF and the World Bank, these two highly influential financial institutions have made increasingly active political appeals to developing countries over the past two decades, shifting their monopolistic powers by advocating for stronger regional policies, systems of government and systems of public services. Public sector autonomy, privatization, and broad opportunities for sectors outside the government bureaucracy (Rhodes et al., 2012). The problem of tracking public services in Indonesia can actually be seen in several periods of governance, for example starting from the New Order era and ending with the reformation period. The paradigm shift in public service cannot be separated from changes in the political climate which have implications for the policies formulated and implemented by the government. For example, in Indonesia, in the New Order era, public services were characterized by state domination in all elements of national life, so that it was called the paradigm of a strong state or an autonomous state, where socio-political forces, including market forces, had minimal impact on public policy. even in practice.

In the reform era marked by the paradigm of half-hearted deregulation, the government chose to deregulate certain sectors not for public service efficiency but for trade security between state officials and big businessmen. Then there is the paradigm of public service reform. This paradigm examines the role of government and redefines it in the context of global economic and political changes, strengthening civil society, good governance, and the growing role of markets and society in the formulation and implementation of public policies.

Even though the reform era in Indonesian politics has been running for approximately 10 years since the fall of President Soeharto in 1998, there are still gaps in the implementation of public services despite the many efforts made by the government. Improving services to the community, including the re-enactment of the Regional Government Law, which effectively provides for the expansion of authority at the local government level, is seen as part of an effort to break down bureaucratic barriers that often take time and costs. Service delivery. With decentralization, it is undeniable that the regions must be able to carry out the various authorities exercised by the central government in terms of the services that must be provided.

The government has long been trying to improve services, this policy can be seen, among others, in the Decree of the Minister for Administrative Reform Number 81 of 1993 concerning Guidelines for the Implementation of Public Services. Then Presidential Instruction No. 1 of 1995 concerning Repair and Improvement of the Quality of Government Flats which is open to the public. In the latest development, the Decree of the Minister of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform Number 63/KEP/M.PAN/7/2003 concerning General Guidelines for the Implementation of Public Services has also been issued. Efforts to improve service quality must be achieved not only through decision making, but also through increasing the ability of the apparatus to provide services. This is done by providing various materials on service management at all levels of structured training.

Judging from the various efforts made by the government to improve public services, there are still various weak links in this public service. This can be seen from the results of a survey conducted by UGM in 2002, which found that the scale of efficiency and effectiveness, responsiveness, equal treatment and bureaucratic rents were still far from expectations (Syah et al., 2020).

Therefore, comparing the government's efforts with the conditions for public service demands in the decentralization era, it seems that the government's efforts have not contributed much to improving the quality of public services. Even the public service bureaucracy is still unable to provide fair and nonpartisan services.

If we pay attention to various problems in the implementation of public services in Indonesia, then the main problem in public services today is improving the quality of the service itself. According to (Mulyani et al., 2020), the quality of public services is the result of the interaction of many aspects, namely service systems, human resources service providers, strategy and customers.

In terms of the mode of implementation, public services in Indonesia still have various weaknesses, including: (1) not responsive (2) lack of information (3) not easily available (4) poorly coordinated (5) bureaucratic (6) not willing to listen to complaints/ community suggestions/desires, and (7) inefficiency. In terms of human resources, the main weaknesses are related to professionalism, competence, empathy and ethics. The working model used by most of the existing institutions is still influenced by the classic bureaucratic model, namely structure/hierarchy, formal law and how a closed system works. In addition, there are several opinions that the weak human resources of government officials in providing services are caused by a low and inappropriate remuneration system.

Weaknesses in the implementation of other public services can be seen on the institutional side, the main weakness is that the organizational design is not specifically designed to provide services to the community, full of hierarchies that make services complex (bureaucratic), and uncoordinated. There is a tendency for the government to carry out regulatory and administrative functions simultaneously, which also causes inefficiencies in public services.

 

C.  Choice of administrative perspective to address public service issues

As is well known, developments or paradigm shifts in public administration always occur as a response to environmental demands, such as changes in social situations and conditions, the political and economic climate. Change has occurred because the problems facing public administrators have grown in complexity. Theorists have answered this complexity by continuing to develop the science of public administration.

Haque et al. (2021) suggest that there are three perspectives on public administration. This perspective is the old public administration, the new public management, and the new public service. Based on the views put forward by Denhardt and Denhardt as the founders of a new perspective on public administration, the New Public Service, these two experts propose to abandon the principles of classical administration and the well-known New Public Management and re-establishment of their governance, and switch to the New Public Service Principles.

Accountability, whereby decision makers in government agencies, the public sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and stakeholders for what they do and the decisions they make. A generation. The strategic vision is one in which leaders and the public must take a broad and long-term view of human development, considering the historical context and societal and cultural complexities.

Observing some of the views put forward by these experts, and looking at the development of science and technology, advances in public knowledge and changes in a more democratic political climate in an effort to overcome problems related to the delivery of public services in Indonesia, the perspective of public administration where relevant perspectives can be applied is a New Perspective on Public Service (NPS) and Governance. As the newest paradigm of public administration, NPS considers public service as the main activity of public administrators. Services in this context are different from client-based services (consumers) initiated by the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm. According to (Runya et al., 2015), NPM is based on public choice theory, which emphasizes the comparison of individual capabilities with the collective capabilities of the public.

The use of a new public service perspective to address public service issues in Indonesia is also in line with the Pancasila State Precepts, especially the fourth and fifth precepts which emphasize consensus where there is an agreement between the government as a service provider and citizens as service providers. recipients, this aspect of social justice indicates that the provision of services to the community must be based on the aspect of justice, that is, there should be no unreasonable reasons for discrimination or differences based on economic, political and other reasons. One of the core principles of NPS is how public administrators express and divide the interests of citizens (Runya et al., 2015).

In order to improve the quality of public services, the government has carried out activities as seen in participatory planning activities such as Musrenbang for roads, districts, provinces and cities. national level. Even so, these activities cannot be carried out at any time so that the interests of the community in the form of demands cannot be quickly apprehended by the government. For example, sudden needs, such as the need for health and clean water, can occur at any time. In order for the government to immediately anticipate and answer the needs of the community, a communication medium between the government and the community is needed. According to the New Publici Service and good governance perspective, there are several public service models that can be used to address public service problems in Indonesia, including:

1)  Sort of. Model Citizen's Charter (service contract), this model departs from the idea (Villoria et al., 2013) In this model there are public service standards, these standards are set according to the opinion of citizens, and government officials are committed to fulfilling and implementing them. standard. The model is an approach in public services that places service users as the center of attention. Therefore, the needs and interests of the client must be the main consideration in the service process. The citizen charter can be said to be a social contract between citizens and the bureaucracy to guarantee the quality of public services. With this social contract, citizens will have new rights if they are disadvantaged by the bureaucracy in providing services. By adopting the Citizens Charter model, the bureaucracy must also create a customer complaint handling system so that its performance continues to improve.

2)  The KYC (Know Your Customer) model was developed in the banking world and can be adapted to the context of public services in government organizations. The model works by first identifying customer needs and interests before deciding on the type of service to be provided (Kurdi et al., 2022). To understand the desires, needs and interests of service users, public service bureaucracy must get closer to the community. Surveys, interviews and observations are some ways to learn about the wants and needs of your customers. If a survey approach is used, a list of questions should be developed to determine people's wants, wishes and expectations for the services required. In this KYC model, the government bureaucracy must know who its clients are (the people served or community groups). Therefore, every government bureaucracy must be able to define customers or service users so that in the future they can target services according to the needs of the user community. For example, the kelurahan office must be able to identify its service users, whether the community is located in the kelurahan area, or appoint a division head and lurah director.

3)  Technological advances in the mobile government (m-Gov) model, information and communication, directly or indirectly affect the performance of the government bureaucracy, especially in public services. Mobile government actually adapts from electronic government (e-Gov), which is a way of utilizing various information and communication technology (ICT) devices to carry out government functions (Charalabidis et al., 2019). According to (Kumar et al., 2017), the use of e-government can at least change the way of interaction between government and society. What is meant by queuing at the employee's desk, depending on working hours and handling certain services, has been changed to online service, accessible 24 hours a day. with Internet access from a computer connected to a government website. The concept of government using mobile technology is called mobile government (m-Gov). Currently, this model is easy to use because the devices used can be PCs, laptops/notebooks/tablets, mobile phones (mobile phones) at home or in the office. m-Gov is a strategy and its implementation that involves using a variety of wireless and mobile technologies, services, applications, and devices to advance the interests of all parties involved in e-government, including citizens, businesses, and government units (Kumar et al., 2017).

Several regions in Indonesia have implemented e-government, such as Solo City and Sragen Regency. President SBY also provides services using e-government such as opening an SMS service at number 9949 to receive public complaints and the KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) also accepts public complaints on corruption cases through the SMS facility. There are several ways that can be used to activate mobile government, for example by using an internet network from a laptop, WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) networks that are widely available today, devices that allow users to access the internet wirelessly or even for free using available hotspots. in several locations. Another way that can be used to implement m-government is through voice or SMS (Short Message Service) via cellular phones.

Using telephone voices or mobile phones (mobile phones) to receive people's needs is often referred to as a call center in the business world, and in banking institutions it is known as telephone banking. For public organizations, this concept applies to employees acting as agents.

The agent will provide information about community needs at a later date. Apart from being at the forefront of information services for the community, these agents’ function as a liaison between the aspirations of the community and the government. Community needs are included in an integrated system so that institutional leaders can understand these needs. A function that can be used to send and receive short messages via the SMS function on a cell phone. There are various forms of using this technology in government (Berthon et al., 2012), including:

1)  Government to the people, where the government can provide information to its citizens via SMS.

2)  Complaints and suggestions from the public to the government and the public can be submitted to the government via SMS. According to (Lallana, 2004) for points a and b above it is called mobile communication.

3)  For civil servants, the government issues announcements to civil servants via SMS, so that information is received more quickly and ultimately serves the community faster. Another function of the mobile phone is that it can provide information on the location of civil servants, if the employee is not in the office, it is necessary to know the whereabouts of the employee. According to (Erickson, 2017), this problem is called mobility management.

There are several approaches or patterns that can be used to simplify the M-Gov service model, the concepts given by (Da Silva & Freire, 2020) are:

1)  Community with Community Complaint Database

2)  Database of public complaints with local government

3)  DPRD Community Complaint Database

4)  Forkompida Community Complaint System

5)  Local government internal system via SMS

 

CONCLUSION

The New Public Service and Good Governance perspective is considered the most appropriate to answer the current condition of public service problems in Indonesia. This is supported by a more democratic political situation and open government. To effectively implement this point of view, it can be implemented using various models such as the Citizen Charter model, the KYC (Know Your Customer) model, and the Mobile Government model. With the above model, it is hoped that the effectiveness of public service delivery can be increased by overcoming obstacles that impede the effectiveness of public service delivery, and even then, it returns to the community or service providers, namely government apparatus and community participation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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