14 EROPA Bulletin
Special Sessions...
(From page 13)
Professor Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, from the University
of Indonesia, presented his analysis of the transition
of government in Indonesia, from the “New Order”
(Orde Baru) run by President Suharto beginning the
1960s, to the one being
run by President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono,
also known as SBY.
He described these
different types of
regimes in terms of
leadership type, level
of political influence,
dominance of parties,
bias or partiality
and level of professionalism. According to Prof.
Tjiptoherijanto, the “New Order” was solely geared
towards economic growth. It was repressive, and had
led to serious income gaps in Indonesia. In contrast,
under the SBY administration, the government is more
democratic. However, Prof. Tjiptoherijanto opined
that this type of democracy has substantially weakened
President Yudhoyono’s leadership. He iterated that the
challenges for the present administration is to be more
decisive in policy formulation and implementation.
In his presentation
on “Researching
Disaster Management
and Machinery-ofGovernment Issues
with Much Help
from International
Public Administration
Study Networks: A
Personal Reflection”,
Dr. Roger Wettenhall,
Professor at the University of Canberra, shared his
reflection of how his involvement in the different
Public Administration Study Networks contributed
to his research studies in disaster management and
machinery-of-government issues, such as publicprivate partnership and social enterprises. He related
that through his membership in international public
Vol. 34 Nos. 3-4 (July-December 2013)
administration organizations such as EROPA and the
International Association of Schools and Institutes of
Administration (IASIA), he was able to garner support
through the membership entitlements as well as being
involved in the activities of these organizations. He
believed that public administration scholars and
practitioners benefit from these networks, and that
the organizations deserved the full support of their
constituents.
Special Session III
Professor Eko Prasojo,
Vice Minister for
Administrative
Reform in Indonesia,
highlighted the
challenges and
prospects in the
Indonesian-style
administrative reform. He noted three main
challenges that the government must face in making
administrative reform work: 1) rapid development
of information and communications technology;
2) globalization and free economy; and 3) natural
resources limitations.
Public administration has generally evolved in
Indonesia, particularly in dealing with global
bureaucracy and the public administration system.
Prof. Prasojo opined that this has led government
institutions to further strengthen linkages, create
values, innovate and share knowledge and skills with
one another, eventually empowering both personnel
and organizations. How to cope with these changes is
a “backbreaking process”, and Prof. Prasojo indicated
that the “phronetic”—an Aristotelian concept of
virtue and prudence—leadership is required to steer
government reform in the right directions. Aside from
this, he also suggested that the elements of dynamic
governance (thinking again, thinking ahead and
thinking across), change management and knowledge
management strategies should also be incorporated
into the reform model.
He foresaw Indonesian administrative reform from
rule-based administration (Continued on the next page)