Radical Decentralization Reform and Communal Conflict in Indonesia, 2003-2014

Abstract

Radical decentralization reform works or does not work for reducing communal conflict is still debatable. This study examines the linkage between decentralization policy and communal conflict in Indonesia. Two measurement of decentralization: administrative decentralization, and fiscal decentralization is examined. Data come from the Village National Census (Podes) 2003-2014 (N=301.974). Results of twolevel logit regression show that fiscal decentralization not significantly associated with reducing communal conflict. The findings suggest that decentralization work for reducing communal conflict through better capacity of local bureaucrats rather than through financing capacity in delivering public services and district proliferation policy