Political parties should fight paternalistic governance<\/p>\n
By Mochtar Buchori<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): What is good governance, and what can assure
\ngood governance?<\/p>\n
According to experts, good governance is a concept purporting
\nto limit arbitrary actions performed by governments through legal
\ndevices and other institutional instruments.<\/p>\n
Guidelines have been issued by various institutions to define
\nthe basic characteristics of good governance. One such guideline
\nwas issued by the World Bank in 1993. According to this
\nguideline, good governance is a system characterized by the
\nfollowing five features: (1) a strong participatory civil
\nsociety; (2) open, predictable policy-making; (3) an accountable
\nexecutive; (4) a professional bureaucracy; and (5) the rule of
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
At what stage is Indonesia at the moment in this regard, and
\nwhat must we do to bring about good governance here?<\/p>\n
If we use the above criterion as our yardstick, I think we
\nfirst need to transform our society, to make it capable of
\nsupporting and nourishing good governance.<\/p>\n
According to noted intellectual and social activist Y.B.
\nMangunwijaya (Romo Mangun), mere reform is not enough.<\/p>\n
Reform is, at best, only a reshaping of an existing pattern.
\nHe argued that what we must do is to transform ourselves, that
\nis, to change ourselves from within.<\/p>\n
We have to undergo a kind of \"genetic change\", I think, to
\ntransform ourselves for this purpose. We need to change, among
\nothers, our old attitude of always deserting reason and
\nprinciples when facing intimidation and repression. And replace
\nit with a new attitude of resolutely defending principles and
\nsticking to reason in the face of any repression.<\/p>\n
It is only through such radical changes that we will be able
\nto create new social and political formats, which will provide us
\nwith enough freedom to respond to every problem, every challenge
\nand every opportunity in a creative way.<\/p>\n
Even though one might argue that this problem of \"reform\"
\nversus \"transformation\" is merely a matter of semantics, I tend
\nto agree with Romo Mangun.<\/p>\n
A strong participatory civil society, for instance, will not
\ncome about in our society without radically changing and
\ntransforming our traditional habit of always letting the
\ngovernment take all the initiatives in solving existing problems.<\/p>\n
The principle of \"the rule of law\", to mention another
\nexample, can never be implemented in our society as long as we
\npreserve the old notion that \"the ruler is the law\".<\/p>\n
To replace this tradition with the principle of \"the rule of
\nlaw\" will require what physicists call a quantum leap.<\/p>\n
I think good governance will never come within our reach if
\nour society does not become more democratic. Each of the five
\nrequirements mentioned above will materialize only if we, as
\ncitizens, are willing to respect and upheld democratic values, if
\nwe succeed in developing democratic institutions within our
\nsociety, and if we do not interfere with the democratic processes
\nthat take place in society.<\/p>\n
It is also realistic to say that the becoming of good
\ngovernance in our society will take place only if our government,
\nnow and in the future, is not antagonistic toward the concept of
\ngood governance.<\/p>\n
All these ifs mean that good governance cannot be taken for
\ngranted in our society. Unless the nation consciously and
\ncontinuously strives for it, good governance will remain a dream
\nin our society,<\/p>\n
What are the main obstacles that stand in our way toward good
\ngovernance?<\/p>\n
As I see it, there are three main obstacles. First, is our
\ntradition of paternalistic governance.<\/p>\n
Paternalistic governance excludes the notion of popular
\nparticipation both in the formulation of policies and also in the
\nimplementation of policies.<\/p>\n
Paternalistic governance presumes that those in power are
\nomniscient and that it is their privilege to protect and guide
\nthe governed.<\/p>\n
The Javanese word pengayoman, literally meaning custody, is a
\nslogan that has been used by the previous Soeharto regime to
\npreempt any initiative toward significant popular participation
\nin political affairs.<\/p>\n
This notion and tradition of paternalistic governance has been
\ndeeply anchored within our bureaucracy. Failure to wipe out the
\ntraces of this tradition from our bureaucracy will make good
\ngovernance just impossible in our society.<\/p>\n
Second, our political culture still emphasizes the art of
\nsecuring the right to govern without, simultaneously, emphasizing
\nthe need for democratizing the existing system of governance.<\/p>\n
It is true that the concept of benevolent government has
\nalways been part of our political culture, but I think that this
\nconcept is substantially different from that of democratic
\ngovernance.<\/p>\n
I hope it is a truism that the notion of political opposition
\nis no longer a taboo in our political culture.<\/p>\n
But merely dropping the old view that opposition is an
\nanathema to Indonesian democracy is not enough. We have to
\ngenerate basic ethics concerning the rules of opposition within
\nour political culture. And since politeness and euphemism have
\nalways been part of our culture, we must develop in our political
\nculture the art of conducting polite but effective opposition,
\nall the euphemisms notwithstanding.<\/p>\n
I am afraid that failure to develop a modern and relevant view
\nof opposition and its basic rules will bring us back to the old
\npractices of \"liberal democracy\" in the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Third, our education system has stopped being a force in
\nshaping the political culture of our country. The emergence of
\ngood governance depends very much upon whether each successive
\ngeneration in our society is aware of the need to preserve and
\ncultivate democracy.<\/p>\n
And I do not think we can assume that such awareness will
\nautomatically dawn upon the young generation. We are fortunate
\nthat despite the deliberate choice of our education system in the
\npast to embark upon political indoctrination instead of political
\neducation, we still have a generation that is deeply committed to
\ndemocracy, decent governance and decent society.<\/p>\n
But I do not think that in the future, we can leave the
\nsurvival of democracy to forces we do not control.<\/p>\n
How do we overcome these three main obstacles?<\/p>\n
I think this is an assignment for our political parties and
\nour educational community. The burgeoning of political parties in
\nour society can be a contributing factor to the solution of this
\nproblem only if our political players, especially those from the
\nyoung and untainted generation, pay due attention to the problem
\nof eradicating the traces of paternalistic governance and that of
\ncultivating democratic political culture.<\/p>\n
And our school system can play a significant role in the
\nrejuvenation of our political culture only if our educational
\ncommunity can generate an educational idealism which is congruent
\nto the political idealism that is emerging in our society.<\/p>\n
The writer is an observer of social and cultural affairs.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/political-parties-should-fight-paternalistic-governance-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }