A Diagnostic Study of the Civil Service in Indonesia by Asian Development Bank

Author:Asian Development Bank [Bank, Asian Development]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789292626860
Google: WVg6zgEACAAJ
Goodreads: 57074472
Publisher: Asian Development Bank
Published: 2021-01-26T00:00:00+00:00

The Role of Gender and Diversity

Civil service organizations are not often descriptively representative (in terms of gender, class, ethnicity, caste, or religion) of the populations they serve (Rogger 2017; UN Women 2015). This is particularly true for civil service leadership positions in Indonesia and Southeast Asia in general (OECD and ADB 2019, p. 9). A growing body of research indicates that this may have detrimental consequences for the performance of the state. A larger share of women and minorities in public office (elected or appointed) have been found to have an effect on the quality of public goods provision; the types of public goods provided, including goods and services that meet the needs of the most vulnerable populations; the bureaucracy’s ability to understand the needs of their clients; the quality of political leaders; and the degree of corruption in the bureaucracy (Bhavnani and Lee 2019, Bradbury and Kellough 2011; Rasul and Rogger 2015; Herring 2009; Krislov 2012; Pepinsky et al. 2017; Duflo 2012; Vernby 2013; Besley et al. 2017; Brollo and Troiano 2016; Gulzar, Haas, and Pasquale 2018; Chin and Prakash 2011; Clayton and Zetterberg 2018; Pande 2003; Park 2013).

Better representation of women and other underrepresented groups also shapes the people’s perceptions of the state, especially with regard to the trustworthiness of civil servants. A civil service whose employees share ascriptive characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, language, or culture with citizens can dramatically improve the citizens’ evaluations of interactions with the state (Krislov 2012; Theobald and Haider-Markel 2009; Riccucci et al. 2014; Mettler 1998; Barnes et al. 2018).

Stronger descriptive representation also amplifies the depth of embeddedness of civil servants in their local communities, allowing those in the frontline to frame their messages and perform their tasks in culturally appropriate ways, and thus raising their effectiveness. This also increases the probability that clients will adopt their providers’ recommendations (such as in the health care sector) or result in citizens’ greater understanding of eligibility requirements (Tendler and Freedheim 1994). Citizens who perceive their civil servants to be trustworthy are also more likely to view the government more generally as legitimate and in turn more likely to quasi-voluntarily comply with government rules and regulations like paying taxes, which enhances the state’s capacity in the long run (Levi and Sacks 2009).

Traditionally, Indonesia’s civil service has been dominated by men and Muslim civil servants from Java, especially among echelon-level employees. The majority of women in civil service are employed as teachers and health care workers. While overall female representation in the civil service has improved since the 1970s, a pattern of male dominance has a long tradition and reflects societal norms and biases (Azmi et al. 2012). Indonesia’s labor market as a whole is biased against women (Wright and Crocket Tellei 1993).7

Recent surveys of women in the civil service indicate that they are often overlooked for promotions or decide to reject offers for promotion because they are required to relocate to remote provinces (Azmi et al. 2012). Also, while women can request to be reassigned to follow their husbands, this often requires a demotion in job responsibilities.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.