CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2. 1 Introduction
An appropriate method of collecting data about citizens, population administration, which
consists of population registration and civil registration, is essential for the implementation of
national and sub-national development programs. Population administration processes not only
create legal proof for any vital events which occur among individuals in a country but can also
create accurate data about the population.

The current efforts from the Indonesian government to strengthen the population administration
sector have not yet been realized. Introduction of the new regulations and integrated computer
system are still not contributing significant changes in improving the system of population
administration in Indonesia. Based on data from the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics
(BPS) in 2004, it estimated that only 55 % of children less than five years old and 40 % of
children under eighteen years old were registered and possess a birth certificate (Darahim et al
2006: 7). These data are not significantly different with the result of the UNICEF survey in 2000
which identified Indonesia as one of the poorest in civil registration. Based on that survey the
birth certificate possession for children less than five years old in Indonesia is only 40%
(Naommy 2004). The data clearly indicates that from 2000 to 2004 there was little improvement
in population administration services in Indonesia. Even, perhaps up to now, the condition of
population administration in Indonesia has not improved significantly.

Based on the 2000 census, the number of children under eighteen, totalling seventy eight million,
can be extrapolated to a current projection of approximately eighty five million minors. With a
child registration rate of only 40 %, the number of children currently unregistered may be as
many as fifty million children (Darahim et al 2006: 8). These fifty million children are stateless
and have no citizenship. These data only presents one element of population administration. If
the data about death certificate possession as well as false and multiple identity cards were
available, a far worse condition of population administration in Indonesia would be clearly
exposed.

Realizing the importance of population administration both for the country and its citizens, this
chapter will review some literatures relating complexities on population administration In
Indonesia. In general, this chapter is divided into three main groups. The first section will
review efforts of the Indonesian government to strengthen population administration from
the beginning of the county’s history up until the current time. The second section in this
chapter will review literatures that analyse the main problems for local officers in delivering
population administration function. The third section in this chapter will review some
literatures in relation to the understandings and awareness of community in participation on
population administration.

2. 2 Population administration in Indonesia an overview

Population administration in Indonesia has been established since the Dutch colonial era.
However in this era, population records and civil registration was conducted to achieve the
colonial ruler’s purposes. At that time, recording the population registration and civil registration
was based on four racial groupings. Population registration and civil registration for the:
1. European community rules in Staatsblad No 25/1849
2. Tionghoa or Chinese community rules in Staatsblad No 130/1917
3. Christian non-indigenous community rules in Staatsblad No 751/1920, and
4. Christian indigenous community rules in Staatsblad No 75/1923.
These situations made the population administration system discriminative and valued some
communities such as European people more than other communities (Jurnal Administrasi
Kependudukan 2006:25, Darahim et al 2006: 13, Sugondo 2002: 3 and Katharina & Nainggolan
2006: 25).

After Indonesia proclaimed independence in 1945, the population registration system still
continued to use the Laws and Regulations from the Dutch colonial era. To make the population
administration system in Indonesia more suitable with the Indonesian condition, several efforts
were initiated. For example, in 1966 the Indonesian government amended some of the Dutch
colonial regulations by introducing Presidential Instruction No.31/U/In/2/1966 that gave
instruction to all civil registration offices in Indonesia under the Ministry of Justice to no longer
use racial groupings as a basis for recording vital events. However, these efforts were not
promising due to the Staatsblads still being referred to as the legal basis in population
administration registration. The discrimination in recording vital events continued. For example,
the Indonesian Chinese communities are not considered by the Indonesian government to be
citizens and therefore have difficulty in processing their identity cards. Furthermore the
Indonesian Chinese community has also difficulty in processing their marriage certificates
(Jurnal Administrasi Kependudukan 2006:11).

In 1983, the Indonesian government tried once more to manage better population administration
by drawing out the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice in managing civil registration and
transferred the responsibility to the Home Affairs Ministry through Presidential Decree
No.12/1983 (Katharina & Nainggolan 2006: 25). Following this Presidential Decree, in 1995, the
Home Affairs Ministry through the Directorate of General Governance and Regional Autonomy
(PUOD) tried to implement a new computer system for managing population administration in
Indonesia called the Population Management Information System (SIMDUK). The
implementation of SIMDUK officially started in 1995 in-line with the establishment of The
Home Affairs Ministry Regulation No. 1A/1995, concerning the implementation of population
registration based on SIMDUK. Further to this situation, the Home Affairs Ministry Resolution
No. 2A/1995 related to the procedure and action plan of Population Registration based on
SIMDUK (Jurnal Administrasi Kependudukan 2006:25).

However, this new system no longer exists. There are several problems contributing to the failure
of this new system. First, the national institution in managing SIMDUK is very low in the
government organisational level. SIMDUK was managed by one of the Sub-Directorates of
Population in the Directorate of General Governance and Regional Autonomy (PUOD), Home
Affairs Ministry. Second, the legal aspect of managing this sector was only regulated by a
ministerial level regulation, namely the Home Affairs Minister Decision No. 54/1999 or
Kepmendagri No.54/1999 (Kurnia 2004). Furthermore, SIMDUK was not integrated and could
not accurately collect population data. Meanwhile, implementation of SIMDUK was totally
outsourced to a third party. This situation made security issues high risk. Another external factor
contributing to the failure of the system is economic crisis which hit Indonesia in 1997. Thus
SIMDUK was implemented for no longer than seven years from 1995 to 2002.

2. 3 Economic crisis implications on population administration

The financial crisis which hit Indonesia in 1997 had a number of implications. The crisis not
only affected Indonesia in economic instability but also became a political problem. In May
1998, the crisis brought about the fall of the Indonesian authoritarian leader of 32 years,
President Soeharto. This time is known as the beginning of the reformation era in Indonesia.
Since the standing down of Soeharto from the presidency in the middle of 1998, the position of
president of Indonesia has changed several times. Soeharto was replaced by Vice President B.J.
Habibie and then at the following election, in 1999, Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as
Gus Dur, was chosen as president of Indonesia with Megawati Soekarnoputri, popularly known
as Ibu Mega, as his vice president. In 2001, Abdurrahman Wahid was impeached by the
parliament and immediately replaced by Megawati Soekarnoputri. It means in the period of 1998
to 2001 from the fall of Soeharto, the presidency of Indonesia has changed three times.

During this reformation era under the leadership of President B.J. Habibie, President
Abdurrahman Wahid and President Megawati Soekarnoputri there were several fundamental
changes in the Indonesian government. One of the fundamental changes in the Indonesian
government was the implementation of regional autonomy in 1999 which brought about many
other overall implications for the government administrative systems including the population
administrative system.

Population administration functions were influenced greatly by the government restructuring

process. Under the leadership, of President Abdurrahman Wahid, in February 2000, the
Indonesian government established the Population Administration and Mobility Board (Badan
Administrasi Kependudukan dan Mobilitas Penduduk, popularly known as BAKMP) to replace
the Sub-Directorate of Population in the Directorate of General Governance and Regional
Autonomy (PUOD), Home Affairs Ministry based on Presidential Decree No.5/2000. This Board
was led by the Minister of Transmigration and Population. This new institution had
responsibility in managing national population administration and population mobility (Portal
Nasional Republik Indonesia n.d)

Only eleven months after its establishment, BAKMP was replaced by a new institution. On
March 2001, the Indonesian government, under the leadership of President Abdurrahman Wahid,
once more changed the institution responsible for managing population administration, by
introducing the National Population Agency (Badan Kependudukan Nasional, popularly known
as BAKNAS). The establishment of BAKNAS was based on the Presidential Decree No.42/2001.
By establishing Presidential Decree No.42/2001, the Presidential Decree No.5/2000 concerning
the Population Administration and Mobility Board was abolished. As a consequence, the
responsibility of BAKMP in managing any tasks related to population administration on a
national scale was replaced by BAKNAS (Portal Nasional Republik Indonesia n.d).

After President Abdurrahman Wahid was replaced by President Megawati Soekarnoputri in July
2001, the efforts to reform population administration functions continued. Under the leadership
of President Megawati Soekarnoputri the function of population administration was replaced
again to become a Directorate General under Home Affairs Ministry.

2. 4 Directorate General of Population Administration

On 13 September, not long after President Megawati Soekarnoputri took the position of
Abdurrahman Wahid, she tried to restructure the population administration function by placing
the organization into the right place. The changing of population administration function into the
Home Affairs Ministry was based on Presidential Decree No.102/2001 concerning function,
competencies, and organisation of departments. On part two, article five and point J of the
Presidential Decree No.102/2001, it is clearly stated that responsibility in determining the
guidelines of population administration on a national scale is the responsibility of the Home
Affairs Ministry (Portal Nasional Republik Indonesia n.d). Therefore, at this point in time,
population administration was considered as a function of a certain Ministry.

On 10 October 2001, that Presidential Decree was then followed by the Presidential Decree
No.109/2001 regarding unit organisation and job description of all directorate generals.
Presidential Decree No.109/2001, specifically in chapter two article two point G, clearly stated
that the population administration function would be managed by a directorate general under the
Home Affairs Ministry. This directorate general is the Directorate General of Population
Administration which is popularly known by the acronym Ditjen Adminduk. Furthermore in
Article three point seven on the Presidential Decree No.109/2001 stated that Ditjen Adminduk
has responsibility in managing population administration in national scale (Portal Nasional
Republik Indonesia n.d). By the establishment of Ditjen Adminduk, the responsibility of
population administration was transferred from the National Population Agency (BAKNAS) to
Ditjen Adminduk. The organisational structure of the Home Affairs Ministry can be seen in
Chart 2.1 below.

Chart 2.1: The organisational structure of the Home Affairs Ministry

Source: (Ditjen Adminduk 2006: 26).

A detailed job description of Ditjen Adminduk was then further regulated in Ministerial Decree
of the Home Affairs Ministry No.40/2001. Based on this regulation, Ditjen Adminduk is
responsible for policy formulation standardization, the establishing of norms and guidelines and
procedures of population registration, civil registration and management of population data. To
carry out these tasks, the Home Affairs Ministry has established the organisational structure of
Ditjen Adminduk, in accordance with the regulation, which consists of one secretariat directorate
general and five directorates. The secretariat directorate general is then divided into four
divisions and twelve sub-divisions; meanwhile each of the five directorates is divided into
several sub-directorates and sections. Each directorate is divided into five sub-directorates and
each sub-directorate is further divided into two sections (Ditjen Adminduk 2006: 34).

Meanwhile, the implementation of population administration, as indicated by Law No.22/1999

and later amended by Law No.32/2004 on Decentralization and Local Government, became the
responsibility of local government especially city and regency government. It is clearly stated in
article thirteen paragraph one point L and article fourteen paragraph one point L of Law
No.32/2004 where population registration and civil registration became the responsibility of
provincial, regencies and cities. Furthermore, article twenty two point J and article twenty three
paragraph one on law No.32/2004 also stated that every local government has responsibility in
managing population administration. Besides that, article 136 paragraph two law No.32/2004
clearly states that implementation of population administration including population registration
and civil registration in local government must be regulated by the local authority. However this
regulation must not be contradicted to the higher laws and regulations from the central
government such as Law No.23 2006 regarding population administration and other regulations
(Ditjen Adminduk 2006: 54).

Thus, to implement this function at the local level, Ditjen Adminduk has a representative office
in every province. Usually, population administration in the provincial level is located in the
Governor’s Office. The function is usually under Government Bureau called Population Section
(Bagian Kependudukan Biro Pemerintahan). This function usually only consists of a small
number of staff of around ten to twenty. This is because the Population Section Office at the
provincial level is just a representative of the central government, only collecting data from each
city and district in the province. Meanwhile, the main population administration operations are
located at the city and regency level. That is why in every city or regency level, it is compulsory
to have the Office of Population and Civil Registration (Dinas Kependudukan dan Catatan Sipil)
to run its daily activities. To help the office run its operations, this office must have a
representative unit in every sub-district called the Population Data Recording Unit or Tempat
Perekaman Data Kependudukan (TPDK). The organisational structure of Ditjen Adminduk can
be seen in Chart 2.2 below.
Chart 2.2: The organisational structure of the Directorate General of Population Administration
Source: (Ditjen Adminduk 2006: 34).

Not long after its establishment, on May 2002, Ditjen Adminduk collaborated with the Ministry
of Administrative Reform, UNICEF, Plan International, the Consortium of Civil Registrations,
and the Indonesia-German Technical Cooperation Support for Good Governance (GTZ SFGG).
A national conference was conducted with the main theme of “Improving Public Services in
Citizen Administration”. The conference was attended by a range of relevant local and central
government officials, NGO representatives and Community organisations, as well as a number of
domestic and international experts in population administration. The objective of this conference
was to synchronize visions and missions on population administration, to build a strong
commitment from all stakeholders and to provide international experience about how to best
deliver population administration as well as to identify the main constraints of population
administration in Indonesia (Ditjen Adminduk 2006:70).

The efforts of streamlining the population administration system in Indonesia are also a concern
of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR). Through the People’s Consultative Assembly
Resolution No.VI/2002 (TAP MPR No.VI/2002), MPR made a recommendation to the
Indonesian government to as soon as possible create a unique identity number for each resident
in Indonesia from birth to death. This unique number must be attached to every residents’
document and be able to be used as an access key for every residents activities (Jurnal
Administrasi Kependudukan 2006:12).

Based on the insights from the conference, the People’s Consultative Assembly
recommendation, consideration of current conditions, and learning from past experiences then
Ditjen Adminduk prioritised the legal aspects and the integrated computer system as the most
important problems in population administration in Indonesia.

2. 4. 1 Legal Aspects

Legal aspects truly became the main constraints in current population administration practices in
Indonesia. It can be seen from the regulation used in both population registration and civil
registration. Population registration matters are only regulated from the ministerial level. It
should be regulated by Laws which have a higher position to regulate basic functions like
population registration. Until the establishment of Ditjen Adminduk, population registration was
only regulated by a Ministerial Decree, namely Ministerial Decree of the Home Affairs Ministry
No.54/1999. Meanwhile, the legal basis on civil registration still uses colonial rules that are no
longer suitable to the current condition (Kurnia 2004).

Based on that consideration, Ditjen Adminduk created new regulations which were more suitable
to current conditions and better at managing population administration in Indonesia. From 2001
and 2006, there have been several regulations that have been made to replace the old regulations.
These regulations consisted of Presidential Decree No.88/2004, concerning population
administration information management, the Ministerial Decree of the Home Affairs Ministry
(Kepmendagri) No.94/2003 concerning specification in printing and controlling population
administration documents (later amended to become the Ministerial Regulation of the Home
Affairs Ministry [Permendagri] No.35A/2005) and the Ministerial Regulation of the Home
Affairs Ministry [Permendagri] No.28/2005 which was concerned with the implementation of
population registration and civil registration at the local level (Ditjen Adminduk 2006:18).
In addition to these regulations, for the first time in Indonesian history, the Indonesia government
had its own law on population administration; the Population Administration Law No.23/2006.
This law was passed by the Indonesian Legislative Assembly in 2006. This law became the main
legal basis for implementing population administration in Indonesia. This law regulates many
aspects in relation to population administration processes, including citizens or residents’ rights
and obligations, delivery processes, local institutions that manage population administration. It is
clear that currently, Indonesia has adequate regulations to manage population administration in
the country.

2. 4. 2 Computer System

Beside legal aspects, problem of population administration in Indonesia are also caused by lack
of integrated computer system. The effort to improve this problem by introducing the Population
Management Information System (SIMDUK) in 1995 does not solve the problem since the
system has many weaknesses. Without an adequate system, it is impossible to create better
population administration system and thus it is also impossible to create an accurate population
database.

To overcome the problem related the lack of adequate computer system Ditjen Adminduk created
a new computer system called the Population Administration Information System, or Sistem
Informasi Administrasi Kependudukan which is popularly known by the acronym SIAK. The
SIAK has been implemented in several provinces, regencies and cities in Indonesia. Until up to
now, there are about 220 regencies and cities in Indonesia have implemented this new computer
system. By the end of the year 2007, Ditjen Adminduk estimated that all provinces, regencies
and cities in Indonesia will install and have ready to use SIAK. So, by the year of 2008, SIAK
should be operating in all provinces, regency and cities in Indonesia and data describing
population and civil registration can be collected accurately. It is hoped that by the year 2009 the
database of population will be functioning and data will be ready to use for national election
2009 (Ditjen Adminduk 2006).

There are several benefits of SIAK on population administration in Indonesia. Firstly, the use of
the computer system will make the process of public administration relating to population
administration such as issuing identity cards, births certificate, marriage certificates, and other
certificates easier and faster. Secondly using SIAK can reduce the possibility of double
certificates in possession of one citizen such as identity card and births certificate. Unlike the
past, the system will contain a unique number or Nomor Induk Kependudukan popularly known
by the acronym NIK allocated to every resident from birth until death. Moreover, managing
population administration through SIAK enables the creation of a database of population in every
level of government such as cities/regencies, provincial and national level. Model on population
administration management in Indonesia can be seen in picture 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Data collection model of population administration system in Indonesia

Sources: (Author 2007).

2. 5 Problems not yet considered

Giving priority to the legal aspects and the computer system is not a flawed approach in
reforming population administration in Indonesia. Even the actions can be categorised as the
most logic solution. The legal aspects, for example, can be used as guidelines in managing
population administration in Indonesia. Meanwhile, implementation of an integrated computer
system like SIAK can be used as an effective tool in administering population administration
data. However, as already mentioned in the beginning of this chapter, the number of children
currently unregistered may reach fifty million children. This data only represents one aspect of
population administration data, namely birth certificate possession. If the data about death
certificate possession as well as false and multiple identity cards and other data related to
population administration are available, a far worse condition of population administration in
Indonesia would be clearly exposed.

This means that focusing solely on legal aspects and the computer system in reforming
population administration in Indonesia is not sufficient. Population administration problems in
Indonesia are more complex and far worse than merely addressing a lack of adequate systems
and regulations. The main barrier, with the potential to remain problematic even after the
introduction of new regulations and the new computer system, is related to the delivery process
of population administration to the community and also the insufficient level of community
participation to the population administration system.
2. 5. 1 Public service problems

Like many other governments in the world, one of the Indonesia government’s functions is to
provide public services for its citizens. The government provides a wide range of public services
in people’s daily lives including population administration services. However, in reality, the
quality of public services in Indonesia is very poor and in most cases Indonesian government
officers could not deliver public services to the community effectively. In general, according to
Sinambela (2006: 4), public services in Indonesia tend to be slow, expensive and full of
unnecessary procedures. This situation makes many parties unsatisfied with public services in
Indonesia. Even after the reformation era, including the many fundamental changes that have
occurred within the Indonesian government, the public services still remain the same (Ghazali
2006:33, Tarigan 2005: 3 and Thoha 2002: 1). As a result, ineffective public service processes in
Indonesia have also contributed to difficulties surrounding population administration (Katharina
& Nainggolan 2006: 25). The condition of public services in Indonesia can be seen from the
corruption index on Indonesia’s bureaucracy by International Transparency in table 2.1 below.

Table 2.1:
Indonesian’s position
on index corruption
by International
Transparency

Year Rank Score

2004 135 out of 145 2.0

countries

2003 122 out of 133 1.9

countries

2002 96 out of 102 1.9

countries

2001 92 out of 88 countries 1.9

2000 86 out of 90 countries 1.7

1999 97 out of 99 countries 1.7

 1998 80 out of 85 countries 2.0

1997 46 out of 52 countries 2.72

1996 45 out of 54 countries 2.6

1995 41 out of 41 countries 1.97

Source:
(International
Transparency cited
in Zainuri 2007: 36).

Bureaucratic problems are not only experienced by developing countries like Indonesia but are
also experienced by developed country such as the United States. Bureaucracy, according to
Osborne and Gaebler (1992:14), no longer has a positive meaning like it had one hundred years
ago. At that time, bureaucracy was defined as rational and efficient ways for managing public
services. Nevertheless, in Indonesia, public services are far worse than most other countries in
the world. There are several factors contributing to the bad condition of public services in
Indonesia.

One factor contributing to the bad condition of public services in Indonesia is the limited
education standard of civil servants (PNS). According to Gie (2003), based on recent data,
approximately 60 percent of civil servants in Indonesia have only graduated from senior high
school and only 27 percent of civil servants in Indonesia are graduates of higher education such
as Diploma and undergraduate, postgraduate and Doctoral degrees. This situation is not much
different to the condition in 1994. As stated by Rohdewohld (1995:97), at that time, only 8.7
percent of PNS had Master and PhD qualifications. Approximately 60 percent of PNS had senior
high school qualifications. The low level of educational background of civil servants in
Indonesia may have an adverse influence on their performance including the provision of
excellent population administration services (Darahim et al 2006: 24; Saleh 2006: 28).

The limited educational background of civil servants in Indonesia, at the end, will also influence
the level of their understanding about the public services they provide. This situation is clearly
shown by Sinambela (2006: 4), where the poor condition of public services in Indonesia is
caused by misunderstandings of government officers regarding the importance of the public
services they provide. Problems concerning population administration delivering processes also
depend significantly on the understanding of government officers regarding the importance of
the services. This argument is supported by some experts in this field. Sugondo (2002), Haryanto
(2002:9), Kurnia (2004) and Darahim et al (2006: 24), all agree that many government officers
still do not realize the importance of population administration.

A low level of understanding by government officers on population administration is not only

present at the lower government officer level but is also happening at the higher government
officer level. This situation can be seen clearly from the situation of many cities and regencies in
Indonesia that treat the population administration function as a source of local income
(Pendapatan Asli Daerah) for their area (Kurnia 2004). This situation is not an uncommon
occurrence in one or two local governments but is the experience of most cities and regencies in
Indonesia. According to a report from Jurnal Administrasi Kependudukan (2006: 52), at city and
regency level, more than 85% of 440 cities and regencies in Indonesia generate local income for
their region from the function of population administration. So, in delivering population
administration functions such as issuing identity cards and birth certificates, many local
governments try to ‘sell’ the identity cards and other certificates rather than fulfilling the rights
of the citizens.

Another factor contributing to the bad condition of public services in Indonesia is the low level
of remuneration. It is generally known that civil servants in Indonesia receive a very low salary.
The wages of civil servants in Indonesia are still under the minimum standard of living in
Indonesia (Zainuri 2007: 49 and Casmiwati 2004: 229-263). For example, in the 1995/1996
financial year, the basic salary for PNS at the lowest range grade (Golongan I/A to I/D) earned a
basic salary between 86,000 to 230,000 rupiah per month. This means the PNS for the lowest
range grade in 1995/1996 equated to between AUD$ 12 and 33 in the current rate of 7000 rupiah
per one Australian dollar. Meanwhile, PNS for the highest range grade (Golongan IV/A to IV/E)
earned between 185,000 to 590,000 rupiah per month or approximately AUD$ 26 to 84
(Rohdewohld 1995:102). This condition is more or less similar to the current situation, even after
the significant wage increases of the last couple of years. The PNS salary is still very low. For
example, Tjiptoherijanto (2005:2) observed that the salary of the lowest range grades for PNS in
Indonesia (Golongan I/A to I/D) are only approximately US$ 58 to 80 per month. Meanwhile,
the highest range grades (Golongan IV/A to IV/E) only earn about US$ 140 to 200 every month.

With far from adequate wages, civil servants in Indonesia are tempted to make money illegally
through bribery in delivering their functions (Satriya 2005:1). There is even a saying among civil
servants in Indonesia in delivering their services to community, “kalau bisa dipersulit kenapa
harus dipermudah”, (“if it can be made more difficult why should it be made easier”). This
phrase describes a commonly occurring situation where a public servant may stall a process until
a bribe is paid. This situation also becomes common practice in public service area of population
administration, especially in processing any document regarding population registration and civil
registration. This condition, definitely, will harm the Indonesian government’s efforts to
strengthen the population administration system.

All of the difficult factors above directly influence the organisational culture of the Indonesian
government. Organisational culture according to Rohdewohld (1995:111) can be defined as “the
set of values, attitudes, norms beliefs and mental orientation that shapes and determines the
behaviour and expectations of the members of that organisation”. The characteristics of
Indonesian civil servants are generally described as being full of corruption, collusion, nepotism,
slow in delivering their functions, expensive, full of unnecessary procedures and many other bad
images and names (Sulistiyani 2004, Gie 2003 and Casmiwati 2004).

Organisational culture in Indonesian government bureaucracy can not be separated from the
history of the country. In the colonial era, the public service functioned to serve and achieve the
colonial ruler’s purposes. In the empire era, the servants of the kingdom (abdi kerajaan) also
performed to serve the King of the empire rather than the community (Muksin 2006: 55-60).
This situation was not greatly changed after Indonesia proclaimed its independence. In the
independence era, especially in the new order regime under the leadership of President Soeharto,
civil servants also became the tools of Soeharto’s government to achieve the government’s
purposes. Thus, all of these periods have created the Indonesian bureaucratic culture of the
present day where civil servants (PNS) are more like servants of the state (abdi negara) rather
than servants of the community (abdi masysrakat) (Sutiono & Sulistiyani 2004:19, Syafiie 2003,
Rohdewohld 1995:112 and Zainuri 2007).

The deeply encoded lessons of the past organisational cultures that have been passed from one
generation to the next, like in the organisational culture of the Indonesian government above,
pose several threats. First, civil servants may, over time, forget why they believe what they
believe. Second, civil servants may come to believe that what they do not know is not important
to know. The greater hazard of this situation will make ‘good ideas’ from the past become
today’s policy guidelines and tomorrow’s mandates (Hamel and Prahalad 1994: 55). This
condition may eventually threaten Indonesia’s bureaucracy since there are many radical changes
in the world including in managing public services. What is ‘good’ in the past time is not
guaranteed to be ‘a good thing’ in the present or the future. In realizing all of the problems
occurring in government bureaucracy in Indonesia, as described above, it is clear that the public
service could potentially damage the government’s efforts to strengthen the population
administration function.

2. 5. 2 Community participation problem

Problems concerning population administration in Indonesia are not only influenced by bad
population administration delivery processes by government officers but are also caused by a
lack of citizen participation. Community participation problems on population administration
also occur in countries that already have good regulations regarding population administration.
In its Handbook on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems: Preparation of a Legal
Framework, United Nations Statistics Division (1998:27), clearly stated that although the
population administration laws make registration compulsory, including regulating the time
allowed to make the necessary entries and penalties for failure to fulfil this requirement, the facts
show that such penalties have not been proven effective in the field.

In the case of Indonesia, insufficient community participation on population administration is not

only caused by supply factors such as problem with delivering population administration
functions by government offices, but is also caused by a low level of understanding from its
citizens. This argument is strongly supported by research conducted by Lembaga Studi Pers dan
Pembangunan [LSPP] (cited in Katharina & Nainggolan 2006: 23), with a statement that one of
the factors contributing to bad population administration in Indonesia is the lack of
understanding from community members about the benefits of having documents related to
population administration. In addition, UNICEF (cited in Naommy 2004) and Darahim et al
2006: 30), agree that the main contribution to the failure of population administration in
Indonesia, especially with birth registrations, is caused by an insufficient understanding from
community members. Furthermore, the worst factor according to Katjasungkana (2003: 96-99),
is the lack of understanding regarding the importance of population administration in Indonesia
is not only happening in the rural areas but is also experienced by citizens in the large cities.

Limited understanding from the community regarding the importance of population

administration will also influence the level of their awareness about participating in population
administration. This situation can be seen from the argument of many experts in this field.
Haryanto (2002:3) and Saleh (2006) and Wahyudi (2004) all agree that an awareness of the
community about participating in population administration is very low and could harm the
government efforts to attain orderly population administration in Indonesia. This argument is
also supported by some expert demographic observers. Daldjoeni (1981) and Sugondo (2002)
said that one factor that always becomes a barrier for population administration is caused by
many people being unaware of the importance of having demographic documents such as birth
certificates, death certificates, identity cards and other documents relating to population
administration for their life activities.

2. 6 Conclusions
This chapter has described the condition of population administration in Indonesia. It has also
discussed several efforts of the Indonesian government in strengthening population
administration from the earlier periods of the country up to the current condition. However, as
already mentioned in this chapter, focusing solely on legal aspects and the computer system to
strengthen population administration in Indonesia can not guarantee an effective population
administration system in Indonesia. This chapter has reviewed some conditions that could
potentially be barriers in improving population administration in Indonesia. The delivery
processes of population administration functions at the grassroots level by government officers
and inadequate community understanding and awareness of participating in population
administration functions could potentially harm the Indonesian government’s efforts to improve
this function. Thus, it could be concluded that the implementation of new regulations and the
implementation of a better computer system are not likely to contribute significantly to the
improvement of population administration in Indonesia.