Institutional mechanisms and civic forum in coastal village governance in Indonesia

Abstract

Studies on village governance in Indonesia, especially in the maritime areas since the passage of new village law regulations, have not been so comprehensive in analyzing coastal village governance. This article aims to describe and analyze village governance in enhancing public accountability. The study was conducted by taking the case of coastal villages in South Sulawesi. We have carried out some analyses by identifying issues with institutional mechanisms and civic forums. The results show generally minimal community involvement in the governance of coastal villages and low capacity of the village governments. The practice of coastal village governance shows a tendency to place more emphasis on administrative accountability than public accountability. These two main problems focus on three factors: institutional relations in village governance, the way social organizations work in local communities, and cultures. These three factors differ in practice from one another in how they determine the level of accountability in each village. However, in principle, their main characteristic is a weak presence of good governance in the community and village government in the Indonesian coastal area.