Local Government Communication in Indonesia: Observations from Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan

Bachruddin Ali Akhmad

Abstract


Most studies of democratization in developing countries fail to link their analysis with the implementation of local government communication. As a consequence, the study of government communication is too elitist and central government-oriented. This study contributes to the study of government communication in the context of local governance for countries in a democratic transition. The authors use local government communication in public services in Banjarmasin City, South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, as a case of observation. Using a qualitative approach to explore the complexity of cultural and structural factors, the authors combine the results of an analysis of various documents, observations and in-depth interviews relating to the practices of local government communication in South Kalimantan from January to June 2018. In conclusion, the results indicated that the quality of local government communication was influenced by various factors both cultural and structural. Although local cultural factors remain important, in the case of the South Kalimantan, structural factors have more influence on regional government communication. While regional government communication performance does not yet involve active participation from below, more elite-oriented than public-oriented. The regional government officers are less responsive and still top-down, so the ideas of professionalization of local government communications are still limited to expectations rather than reality. This study recommends that local government communication can be effective if it adopts a participatory government communication perspective by involving the key stakeholders and local people in participation in the planning and implementation of communication including women's voices and perspectives.

 

Keywords: Government communication, local democracy, decentralisation, participation, South Kalimantan.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Anderson, B. R. O’G. (1990). Language and power: Exploring political cultures in Indonesia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Antlöv, H. (1995). Exemplary centre, administrative periphery: Rural leadership and the new order in Java. Richmond: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, Curzon Press.

Aspinall, E., & Fealy, G. (Eds.) (2003). Local power and politics in Indonesia: Decentralisation and democratization. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Grimes, J. M. (2010). Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies. Government Information Quarterly, 27(3).

Bimber, B. (2001). Information and political engagement in America: The search for effects of information technology at the individual level. Political Research Quarterly, 54(1), 53–67.

Buehler, M. (2012). Revisiting the inclusion-moderation thesis in the context of decentralized institutions: The behaviour of Indonesia’s prosperous justice party in national and local politics. Party Politics, 19(2).

Buehler, M. (2010). Decentralisation and local democracy in Indonesia: The marginalisation of the public sphere. In Aspinall, E., & Mietzner, M. (Eds.), Problem of democratisation in Indonesia: Elections, institutions and society. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Buehler, M., & Tan, P. J. (2007). Party–candidate relationships in Indonesian local politics: A case study of the 2005 regional elections in Gowa, South Sulawesi province. Indonesia, 84.

Bünte, M., & Ufen, A. (eds.) (2009). Democratization in post-Suharto Indonesia. Oxon & New York: Routledge.

Canel, M. J., & Sanders, K. (2010). Crisis communication and terrorist attacks: Framing a response to the 2004 Madrid bombings and 2005 London bombings. In Coombs, W. T. & Holladay, S. J. (Eds), Handbook of crisis communication. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Canel, M. J., & Sanders, K. (2013). Introduction: Mapping the field of government communication. In Sanders, K. & Canel, M. J. (Eds.), Government communication: Cases and challenges. London: Bloomsbury.

Canel, M. J., & Sanders, K. (2012). Government communication: An emerging field in political communication research. In Semetko, H. A. & Scammell, M. (Eds.) The Sage handbook of political communication. London: Sage.

Canel, M. J., & Sanders, K. (2014). Is it enough to be strategic? Comparing and defining professional government communication across disciplinary fields and between countries. In Canel, M. J. & Voltmer, K. (Eds.), Comparing political communication across time and space: New studies in an emerging field. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Canel, M. J., & Sanders, K. (2011). Government communication. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405186407.wbiecg033

Carpentier, N. (2011). Media and participation. Chicago: Intellect.

Cavoukian, A., & Mitchinson, T. (2003). Making municipal government more accountable: The need for an open meetings law in Ontario. IPC Perspectives (October).

Choi, N. (2004). Local elections and party politics in post-reformasi Indonesia: A view from Yogyakarta. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 26(2).

Coe, K., & Reitzes, M. (2010). Obama on the stump: Features and determinants of a rhetorical approach. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 40(3), 391–412.

Dahlgren, P. (2009). Media and political engagement: Citizens, communication, and democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Daud, A. (1997). Islam dan masyarakat Banjar: Deskripsi dan analisa kebudayaan Banjar. Jakarta: Rajawali Press.

Daud, A. (2004). Islam dan asal-usul masyarakat Banjar. Kandil, 6(II), August-October.

Deutsch, K. W. (1963). The nerves of government: Models of political communication and control. New York: Free Press.

Fairbanks, J., Plowman, K., & Rawlins, B. (2007). Transparency in government communication. Journal of Public Affairs, 7(1), 23–37.

Fang, Z. (2002). E-government in the digital era: Concept, practice and development.

International Journal of the Computer, 10(2), 1-22.

Farnsworth, S. J. (2009). Spinner in chief: How presidents sell their policies and themselves. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.

Fatchiati, N. (2009). Budaya sungai dan patronase wilayah. Kompas, 17 February.

Fatchiati, N. (2009, June 4). Hasil pemilu Kalimantan Selatan: Kukuhnya patronase ketokohan. Kompas.

Fatchiati, N. (2009, February 17). Peta politik Kalimantan Selatan: Bubuhan, benang merah urang Banjar. Kompas.

Figenschou, T. U., Karlsen, R., Kolltveit, K., & Thrbjørnsrud, K. (2017). Serving the media ministers: A mixed-methods study on the personalization of ministerial communication. International Journal of Press/Politics, 22(4), 411-430.

Fionna, U. (2011). The pull and push between central and local political parties: A case study of party branch organisation in Indonesia. Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration, 33(2).

Gao, X., & Lee, J. (2017). E-government services and social media adoption: Experience of small local governments in Nebraska state. Government Information Quarterly, 34(4), 627-634.

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of cultures: Selected essays. New York: Basic Books.

Graham, M. W., Avery, E. J., & Park, S. (2015). The role of social media in local government crisis communications. Public Relations Review, 41(3), 386-394.

Graham, S., & Aurigi, A. (1997). Virtual cities, social polarisation, and the crisis in urban public space. Journal of Urban Technology, 4(1), 19-52.

Habermas, J. (1991). The public sphere. In Mukerji, C. & Schudson, M. (Eds.), Rethinking popular culture: Contemporary perspectives in cultural studies. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Hadiz, V. R. (2003). Power and politics in north Sumatra: The uncompleted reformation. In E. Aspinall & G. Fealy (Eds.), Local power and politics in Indonesia: Decentralisation and democratisation. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies/Leiden: KITLV.

Hadiz, V. R. (2010). Localising power in post-authoritarian Indonesia: A Southeast Asia perspective. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Hansson, S. (2015). Discursive strategies of blame avoidance in government: A framework for analysis. Discourse & Society, 26(3), 297-322.

Hansson, S. (2017). Anticipative strategies of blame avoidance in government: The case of communication guidelines. Journal of Language and Politics, 16(2), 219-241.

Hansson, S. (2018). Government communication. In Wodak, R. & Forchtner, B. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and politics. London: Routledge.

Hwang, J. C. (2010). When parties swing: Islamist parties and institutional moderation in Malaysia and Indonesia. South-East Asia Research, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.5367/sear.2010.0016

Hidayat, S. (2010). Mengurai peristiwa – merentas karsa: Refleksi satu dasawarsa reformasi desentralisasi dan otonomi daerah. Prisma, 29(3), 3-22.

Hofman, B., & Kaiser, K. (2002). The making of the big bang and its aftermath: A political economy perspective. Paper presented at the conference ‘Can decentralization help rebuild Indonesia?’. Atlanta: Georgia State University.

Hooker, V. M. (Ed.) (1993). Culture and society in new order Indonesia. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press.

Ibrahim, I. S. (2020). Jurnalisme kemiskinan: Representasi kemiskinan di media lokal. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Kompas.

Ibrahim, I. S., (2007). Kecerdasan komunikasi: Seni berkomunikasi kepada publik. Bandung: Simbiosa.

Ibrahim, I. S., (2011). Kritik budaya komunikasi: Budaya, media, dan gaya hidup dalam proses demokratisasi di Indonesia. Yogyakarta: Jalasutra.

Ipsos MORI. (2008). The reputation of local government: A literature review to support my council campaign. Retrieved on 10 November 2018 from www.ipsos-mori.

com/researchpublications/publications/1248/The-reputation-of-localgovernment.aspx

Jackson, K. D. (1978). The political implications of structure and culture in Indonesia. In Jackson, K. D. & Pye, L. (Eds.). Political power and communication in Indonesia. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Jacobson, T., & Servaes, J. (eds.) (1998). Theoretical approaches to participatory communication. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Jenei, A. (2012). Communication with the public: From the local government perspective. Budapest: Ad Librum.

Jensen, K. B., & Jankowsky, N. W. (1991). A handbook of qualitative methodologies for mass communication research. New York: Routledge.

Johansson, K. M., & Raunio, T. (2019). Government communication in a comparative perspective. In Johansson, K. M. & Nygren, G. (Eds.) Close and distant: Political executive–media relations in four countries. Göteborg: Nordicom.

Kaid, L. L., & Holtz-Bacha, C. (Eds.) (2008). Encyclopedia of political communication (Vol. 1). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage.

Kaid, L. L. (Ed.) (2004). Handbook of political communication research. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Kasali, R. (1994). Manajemen public relations. Jakarta: Grafiti.

Kernell, S. (1997). The theory and practice of going public. In Iyengar, S. & Reeves, R. (Eds.). Do media govern? Politicians, voters and reporters in America. California: Sage.

Kirk, J., & Miller, M. (1986). Reliability and validity in qualitative research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Lee, G., & Kwak, Y. H. (2012). An open government maturity model for social media-based public engagement. Government Information Quarterly, 29(4), 492-503.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

Lindlof, T. R., & Taylor, B. C. (2002). Qualitative communication research methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Madinier, R. (2015). Islam and politics in Indonesia: The Masyumi party between democracy and integralism. Singapore: NUS Press.

Mahin, M. (2004). Urang Banjar: Identitas dan etnisitas di Kalimantan Selatan. Kandil, 6(II), August-October.

Mergel, I. (2017). Social media communication modes in government. In Chen, Y.-C. & Ahn, M.J. (Eds.), Routledge handbook on information technology in government. London: Routledge.

Mietzner, M. (2007). Local elections and autonomy in Papua and Aceh: Mitigating or fuelling secessionism?. Indonesia, 84, 1-39.

Mossberger, K., Wu, Y., & Crawford, J. (2013). Connecting citizens and local governments? Social media and interactivity in major U.S. cities. Government Information Quarterly, 30(4), 351-358.

Ndou, V. D. (2004). E-government for developing countries: Opportunities and challenges. The Electronic Journal on Information Systems in Developing Countries, 18(1), 1-24.

Noor, F. A. (2014). The Malaysian Islamic party PAS, 1951-2013: Islamism in a mottled nation. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

Nordholt, H. S. (2004). Decentralisation in Indonesia: Less state, more democracy? In Harriss, J., Stokke, K., & Törnquist, O. (Eds.), Politicising democracy. The new local politics of democratisation. Houndmills: Palgrave.

Orang Banjar dan budaya sungai. Retrieved on 14 March 2019 from https://5segunda.blogspot.com/2014/04/orang-banjar-dan-budaya-sungai.html

Panuju, R. (2019). Narative analysis of Perindo party advertisement. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 35(3).

Prasetyo, P. S. (2010). Desentralisasi dan demokrasi lokal di Indonesia: Kasus pemerintahan desa di Jawa Barat. In B. S. Hadiwinata S., & C. Schuck (Eds.). Demokrasi di Indonesia: Teori dan praktik. Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu.

Pratchett, L. (2004). Local autonomy, local democracy and the “new localism”. Political Studies, 52(2), 358-375.

Rakhmat, J., & Ibrahim, I. S. (2018). Metode penelitian komunikasi: Edisi revisi. Bandung: Simbiosa.

Rasyid, M. R. (2003). Regional autonomy and local politics in Indonesia. In Aspinall, E., & Fealy, G. (Eds.). Local power and politics in Indonesia: Centralisation and democratization. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Salomonsen, H. H., Frandsen, F., & Johansen, W. (2016). Civil servant involvement in the strategic communication of central government organizations: Mediatization and functional politicization. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 10(3), 207-221.

Sanders, K., & Canel, M. J. (Eds.) (2013). Government communication: Cases and challenges. London: Bloomsbury.

Sanders, K. (2011). Political public relations and government communication. In Strömbäck, J. & Kiousis, S. (Eds.), Political public relations: Principles and applications. New York: Routledge.

Sanders, K., Canel, M. J., & Holtz-Bacha, C. (2011). Communicating governments: A three-country comparison of how governments communicate with citizens. The International Journal of Press and Politics, 16(4), 523–47.

Servaes, J. (1999). Communication for development: One world, multiple cultures. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

Spragens, W. G. (2003). New media for the millennium: Federal and state executive press aides and ambition theory. New York: University Press of America.

Supriatma, A. M. T. (2009). Menguatnya kartel para “bos”. Prisma, 28(2).

Suryadinata, L. (2002). Elections and politics in Indonesia, Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

Tomsa, D. (2010). The Indonesian party system after the 2009 elections: Towards stability? In Aspinall, E. & Mietzner, M. (Eds.). Problems of democratisation in Indonesia: Elections, institutions and society. Singapore: ISEAS.

Törnquist, O. (2013). Popular aspirations, decentralisation and local democracy. In Öjendal, J. & Dellnäs, A. (Eds.), The imperative of good local governance: Challenges for the next decade of decentralization. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

Ufen, A. (2011). Direct local elections and the fragmentation of party organization in Indonesia. APSA 2011 Annual Meeting Paper.

Vos, M., & Westerhoudt, E. (2008). Trends in government communication in the Netherlands. Journal of Communication Management, 12(1).

Wahid, U. (2013). Perempuan dan kekuasaan politik dalam pemilukada DKI Jakarta tahun 2012. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 29(1).

Walcott, C. E., & Hult, K. M. (2008). George Akerson’s legacy: Continuity and change in White House press operations. Presidential Studies Quarterly, 38(4), 593–608.

Wan Norshira Wan Mohd Ghazali. (2019). Islam as the state ideology: Exploring from Gramsci’s notion of power, culture and ideology. Jurnal Komunikasi: Malaysian Journal of Communication, 35(1).

Young, S. (Ed.) (2007). Government communication in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 2289-1528