Is fiscal decentralization conflict abating? Routine violence and district level government in Java, Indonesia
Is fiscal decentralization conflict abating? Routine violence and district level government in Java, Indonesia
It is now widely accepted that the evolution from autocracy towards lasting democracy in developing countries can be associated with increased violence, and even the risk of civil war. This paper examines whether or not there is a link between routine or everyday violence across various districts in the island of Java and the process of fiscal decentralisation in Indonesia. Utilising a newly created data set the authors examine the relationship between routine and everyday violence and fiscal decentralisation in 98 districts of the Indonesian island of Java.
Routine violence, which is different from both civil war and ethno-communal conflict, centres around group brawls, popular justice or vigilante violence. The authors demonstrate how despite the uniform implementation of fiscal decentralisation, sub-national entities exhibit varying experiences with decentralization. Despite this, a common consequence is the increased size of local government. Fiscal decentralisation, and the increased size of local government, can alleviate pent-up frustrations with a centralised state, as local government expenditure is seen to satisfy the needs of communities that people identify with more closely. The results in this paper show that this is indeed the case, but the capacity to do so mainly lies with richer districts.
Conclusions drawn in this paper include:
- there is empirical evidence that routine social violence in the island of Java in Indonesia is negatively associated with the impact of fiscal decentralisation and the size of local government
- in accordance with the fiscal federalism literature, a more cooperative solution with regard to subjects of local competencies and revenue sharing between the central and local entities is desirable
- fiscal decentralisation in Indonesia, despite its many desirable properties, has led to the widening of inequalities in fiscal capabilities of the various local regions in the country.
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