[Unpad.ac.id, 29/11/2013] Mudiyati Rahmatunnisa, dra., M.A., Ph.D., lecturer from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIP) launched her book entitled The Rise and The Fall of Indonesia’s Decentralization Policies: from Independence to the Post-Soeharto Era in a seminar organized by the Department of Politics Unpad, Friday (29/11) at Building E 2nd Floor, FISIP, Jl. Bukit Dago Utara No. 25 Bandung.
Mudiyati Rahmatunnisa, dra., M.A., Ph.D (Photo by: Tedi Yusup)*
Rahmatunnisa said that the book is an extraction of her dissertation findings on decentralization and democracy in Indonesia, particularly in 1945-2006. “It discusses the evolution of decentralization system in Indonesia including institutional approach, legal basis, initial scenario of the system, and socio-political situation surrounding it,” she explained.
The objects of the research include two regions, Bandung and Cirebon. Conducted for 5 years, the regions are considered representing the implementation of decentralization system and it has been applied the same time as the theme of the research.
“My intention in selecting the objects was that most of researches in such theme only focus on national level and they rarely discuss the regional one,” said Rahmatunnisa, who is also the head of the Department of Politics Unpad.
The discussion was conducted by two speakers, Prof. Dr. Utang Suwaryo, M.A, professor from the Department of Governance Unpad and Cecep Hidayat, S.IP., IMRI from the Department of Politics UI, and moderated by Caroline Paskarina, S.IP., M.Si.
Hidayat said that the book offers a more comprehensive discussion and analysis on the evolution of decentralization in 1945-2006, while as far as he concerned the period ranges in several political times in Indonesia’s political system. He believed that Rahmatunnisa has explained the situation in a comprehensive way. In addition, he said that it remains relevant to discuss and do research on the matter because the topic still becomes a talk on Indonesian politics. However, the book is lack of the explanation on how such condition occurs.
Prof. Suwaryo showed his agreement saying that the system is like a wave as there is no such thing as a full-centered system. This can lead to various discussions and researches and it is essential to be published for the political education in Indonesia.
