Local Public Sphere for Discursive Public Service in Indonesia: Habermas Perspective

Abstract

Democracy is an important issue in the practice of public administration. Until the contemporary situation, democracy is a process that is constantly maintained to accommodate public aspirations. In the context of the democratic process, local public services could be determined by opening the deliberative public sphere and increasing public participation to think together what public services to be provided. This paper is an effort to explore the challenges, opportunities and possibilities of the terms of the acceptable public services for more stakeholders in Indonesia. In contrast to the practice of citizen charters that tend monologue in determining the services contract, the idea of local public sphere, public organization opens dialogue with all stakeholders including the public service users. Habermas's thought about public sphere be an inspiration in building the model of discursive public services. Historically, Indonesia has actually alreay had a concept of "musyawarah mufakat" (consensus) that is similar to deliberative democracy. Therefore, the prospect to create the public service policy that formulated together is possible. To open the possibility the theory into praxis, then the adaptation of Habermas's thought is formulated on a local scale, namely in the regions in Indonesia. Here, public sphere articulated with media or forum for all elements stakeholders for discussion and deliberation in defining public services. Now days with the development of technology, the opportunities will open widely. Beside to modernize and simplify the structure of the service process, technology can facilitate access to interact between the government and the public to create discursive public services.