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Transparency in Public Service to Create a Good Governance Concept

By

Erliza Oktari

Abstract

This article presents the basic concepts regarding the transparency of public services in achieving good governance. Transparency or openness of public services is one way to be realized in order to improve performance toward better government. There was also a lack of transparency, it can achieve a good governance. Because transparency is one of important element that is in good governance. Awareness of the importance of transparency of public services has received attention by both national and local government. Many examples of local governments that have successfully run the transparency of public services. But not a few who have not applied the importance of this is due to still want to enjoy a safe zone and do not want to clean up all the better. Transparency of public services to achieve good governance can start circuitry to increase the government commitment, given the public as users of educational services that are not comfort to do short cuts in service and all organizers and users of public services should have a clear and detailed rules governing transparency and public service.

Key Words: transparency, public service, good governance

Introduction

Goverenance as a paradigm has long been touted to be realized as a principle that can be applied in the country. Views on the governance authority arises because the government deemed too big so that people do not have the space or it can be said that the community has no involvement in the governance system and the spirit is contained in the concept of good governance. Nevertheless a lot of perceptions and opinions about different governance where the end goal is hope for government toward a better (good governance). According to the Kooiman in Sedarmayanti (2004:2) governance is a series of political and social interaction process between the government and society in various fields related to public interests and government intervention on those interests. The term governance is not only a means of governance as an activity, but also means the maintenance, management, direction and coaching, and implementation.

Indonesia as a unitary state which is also being developed to implement the concept of governance in the administration of the country. Many echoes are heard either by the central government and regional manifestation of good governance. Starting from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono made ​​a claim of good governance as the cornerstone of his administration, and also a statement of the Head of Region who want to realize good governance in their daily environmental activities.

The statement seems to be only a discourse that is difficult to achieve. Many things led to the practice of governance in Indonesia can not be done properly. Many difficulties facing the government to formulate policy and program improvement of governance. First, the practice of governance has a wider dimension, so there are many aspects that need to intervene if we are to improve governance practices. Second, not yet widely available information on the strategic aspects that need to take priority to serve as "entry point" to improve governance performance. Third, the conditions between regions in Indonesia are very diverse make each region has a different complexity of governance issues. Fourth, the commitment and concern from various stakeholders regarding governance differ and are generally low (Dwiyanto, 2008:2).

Phenomena like these shows that there are no existence of strategy which comprehensive in the development good governance in Indonesia either by the central government nor the regional government. Concern government's against renewal governance a better still low. Dwiyanto (2008:3) stating that the government usually willing realizing the values of good governance as far as do not interfere their interests. Government are willing for being open within providing information to the stakeholders other outside of the state case of not make his position threatened. Based on the thing such it takes an big step and strategic to start the renewal practice of governance namely one way is with road transparency in the administration of public service. Indradi (2007: 87) declare that the transparency or openness of public meant the existence an interest and efforts for mutual the control and responsible. Transparency is the principle who guarantee the access or the freedom for every person to obtain information about the governmental administration, namely information about the policies process of making and its implementation as well as the outcomes who achieved (http://www.eprints.undip.ac.id).

There are several important considerations why the public service into a strategic point to start the development of good governance in Indonesia. First, the public service has been a realm where the state is represented by the government interacts with the institutions non-governmental. Secondly, various aspects of good governance can be articulated relatively more in the realm of public service. Third, the public service involving the interests of all the elements of governance (Dwiyanto, 2008:20-24). Transparency into the study are important in the public service due to the practice of government that can transparently to create a clean government. In addition, transparency has profound implications for the government's ability to realize a variety of other governance indicators. For examples, how government can make itself a participatory if they are not able to achieve transparency. Residents will only be willing and able to engage in various activities of government and service if the rules concerning the implementation of the activities of government and public service that is open and easy to know people. If the information on the rights and obligations are vague and difficult to know the people then there will be no participation.

Information in the form of government transparency in the implementation of activities, such as the reasons behind the action, the form of action, as well as when and how to act, should be available to stakeholders and the wider community. Given that stakeholders and the public can assess the extent to which government decisions that represent the aspirations of the community and all parties that may be assessed whether the government has conducted its activities properly. Then also with the lack of transparency and community stakeholders can determine whether government policies and officials has resulted in performance that is really expected or not. By providing an opportunity for the public to find out various information about governance, it can facilitate community efforts to assess the defense of government against the public interest. The public can easily determine whether the government will provide support to the government, or vice versa, and the criticism that the government needs to do more pro-public interest.

In Indonesia, the right of citizens to know what happened in a public administration is often very limited. Moreover, to obtain certain information that is sensitive. Though transparency is an important indicator of good governance. Governance rating of good and bad, one of which is determined by the level of transparency in his administration. Poor of trasnparency governance in Indonesia indicated that good governance is far from the reality of daily life of government. Many examples can be given from the fact that the government untranparensy to give information about public services.

For example, an audit conducted by the government over the activities that have been done. Audits are conducted externally from other parties outside the government. However, the audit results were not disseminated to the public by reason rather than public consumption. Then also the practice of e-ID (electronic identity card) which are rampant today. Communities that have come to know only carry electronic ID card is free with no idea how the amount of costs incurred by local governments in the implementation of these activities. It can make a possible practice of misuse of funds by the authorities are not responsible. Therefore necessary transparency to the community as a practice of openness and accountability for what is and has been implemented.

Transparency in public services in essence also can provide benefits to the government. For example alone with practice of transparency can make a government far from the prejudices and the suspicion society. With transparency the government be able accountable for all forms of implementation of their activities to the parties in the outside the government. And last, with transparency achievement of clean governance can be immediately materialized. Based on the phenomenon in above, then it is very interesting for reviewing further regarding the how transparency public service in realizing the by good governance. The review was aims to see the extent to which transparency within public service can support good governance?

Transparency as a concept

Good governance will be transparent, both at central and regional levels. The people in person can know clearly and without any cover-up about the process of formulating public policy and its implementation. In other words, all actions and policies of governments at both central and local, must always be open and public knowledge (Indradi, 2007:57). Further Indradi (2007: 87) also states that the transparency or openness of public means of mutual interest and efforts to control and be responsible. Transparency is a principle which guarantee access or the freedom for anyone to obtain information about the governance, information on the policy-making, implementation process and the results achieved (http://www.eprints.undip.ac.id).

Andrianto (2007:20-22) defines transparency as an openness seriously, thoroughly, and make room for active participation from all levels of society in the management of public resources. Every policy issued by the organizers of the state must be publicly accessible with adequate space for the member community to participate extensively in it. There are some important benefits in transparencies, namely (a) to prevent corruption; (b) more easily identify weaknesses and  policy’s power, (c) increase the accountability of government so that local people will be able to measure the performance of government, (d) increase the confidence in the commitment of government to decide specific policies, (e) strengthening of social cohesion because public confidence in government will be formed; (f) creating a favorable investment climate and increase business certainty.

Definition of Governance

View of governance emerged as the government considered too large so that the public authority does not have the space or it can be said that the community has no involvement in this spirit that the system of government and included in the concept of good governance. In Sedarmayanti Kooiman (2004:2) states that governance is ".... a series of political and social interaction process between the government of the society in various fields related to public interests and the government intervention on proficiency level interests" . The term governance is not only a means of governance as an activity, but also means the maintenance, management, directing, organizing and coaching can also mean the government. Governance as a translation and the government then developed and became popular as the government, while the so-called best practices of good governance.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Sedarmayanti (2004: 3) defines governance as follows: "Governance is the exercise of economic, political, and administrative authory to manage a country's affairs at all levels and means by the which states promotes social cohesion, integration , and Ensure the well being of Their population ". (Governance is the exercise of authority, / power in economic, political, and administrative measures to manage the affairs of the country at every level and is an instrument of state policy to encourage the creation of the welfare state, integrity, and social cohesion in society).

Conceptually, by Basuki and Shofwan (2006:8) sense of the word good (good) in terms of good governance (good governance) contain two understanding, namely:

a.       The values ​​that uphold the desire / will of the people, and values ​​that can improve people's ability in achieving the goal (national) self-reliance, sustainable development, and social justice.

b.      Functional aspects of an effective and efficient government in the execution of his duty to achieve that goal.

Institute of Public Administration in Sedarmayanti (2004:3) argues that good governance-oriented: first, the ideal orientation is geared to the achievement of national goals. Second, governments that serves as an ideal, that is effective, efficient in its efforts to achieve national objectives. The first orientation refers to the democratization of the life of the state with its constituent elements such as: legitimacy (whether elected government and won the trust of the people), scuring of human rights accountability, autonomy and devolution of power and anssurance of civilian control. While the second orientation, depending on the extent to which government has the competence and the extent to which the structure as well as political and administrative mechanisms to function effectively and efficiently.

Elements in Governance

Basuki and Shofwan (2006:10) said that the elements of governance are as follows:

a.       State / government: the conception of government is basically state activities, but beyond that also involve the private sector and civil society institutions.

b.      Private sector: private sector actors include private companies that are active in markets such as interaction systems, industrial processing, trade, banking, and cooperatives, including the informal sector.

c.       Civil society, community groups in the context of the state is basically in between or in the middle between the government and individuals, including individuals and groups of people who interact socially, politically and economically (Basuki and Shofwan, 2006:10).

Based on the theoretical explanation of the above it can be seen that to achieve good governance one way to do is for transparency in public service. Community as an important pillar in the governance should and must know all the rights and obligations in public service in order to realize good governance and good governance. No doubt that the issue of government transparency, especially in public services is still far from perfect. This can be caused by various factors, one of which is still at least the seriousness of the government in creating a transparent service to customers in the concept of good governance is referred to as stakeholders. Should the government realize good governance can not be a dominant actor, but must involve various actors outside government (stakeholders).

Transparency in relation with accountability and participation to accomplish in good governance agenda

In creating a good governance, principles and characteristics required in which if could be an indicator of the success of achieving good governance in a state. Of these principles that have more attention is the principle of participation, transparency and accountability.

According to the United Nation Development Program (1997) in Basuki and Shofwan (2006:11), it serves to encourage every citizen to exercise their right in expressing an opinion in the decision making process concerning public interest, whether directly or indirectly. Participation is one of the principles and characteristics that exist to create a good governance. With the participation of all actors involved in the country will have an impact on the creation of a clean and can be together in the realization of good governance practices. Participation in point is the concept of good governance relating to governance in ways that are mutually agreed upon the rules of government and an agreement reached between individuals, civil society, private sector and Government. There are two important things in a relationship of this participation, namely 1) all players must each know what the other party, 2) the dialogue so that the perpetrators of mutual understanding of differences between them (http://www theadvocatechange.wordpress.com).

Transparency is to create mutual confidence between the government and the community through the provision of information and ensure ease of obtaining an accurate and adequate information. While accountability is to increase the accountability of decision makers in all fields that are of interest to many people (Basuki and Shofwan, 2006:11). The relationship between these three principles like the principle that if one of them is related and connected it will make the application of good governance practices to be imperfect. Actor particularly high participation by the public, private parties and other parties outside the country if not accompanied by a transparency circuitry and disclosure of information relating to the interests of many and clearer accountability for decisions and policies will be issued by the government will create a spirit of participation and will be washed out result in the achievement of good governance.

Therefore, to achieve a good governance is needed sinergies and the relationship between these three principles are thus an important element in the state (government, public, private) who have either lost their meaning not only because one of the principles and characteristics of governance are not going well .

Public service concept

Basically every human being needs the service, it can even be said that the service can not be separated from human life. Moenir in Pasolong (2007:128), stating that the service is the process of fulfilling the needs of others through activities directly. While a more detailed definition is given by Gronroos in Septi Winarsih Ratminto & Atik (2005:2) that the service is an activity or series of activities that are invisible (intangible) that occur as a result of the interaction between the consumer and the employee or the another thing that the company provided the service providers which is intended to solve the problems of consumers / customers.

According Sinambela (2006:5), "public service is as any activity undertaken by the government against a man who has any activity that is beneficial in a collection or entity, and offering as much satisfaction even though the results are not tied to a physical product". Organizers of the Public Service is a unit of work in government agencies that directly provide services to recipients of public services (community).

Transparency  in Public Service to Create a Good Governance Concept

Transparency is a principle which guarantees freedom of access or for any person to obtain information about the governance, information on the policy-making and implementation process and the results achieved (http://www.eprints.undip.ac.id). Good governance will be transparent, both at central and regional levels. The people in person can know clearly and without any cover-up about the process of formulating public policy and its implementation. In other words, all actions and policies of governments at both central and local, must always be open and public knowledge (Indradi, 2007:57). Andrianto (2007:20-22) defines transparency as an openness seriously, thoroughly, and make room for active participation from all levels of society in the management of public resources. Every policy issued by the organizers of the state must be publicly accessible by providing sufficient space for the community to berartisipasi extensively in it.

One way or the way for the government to implement the principle of transparency is through public service. Transparency is a concept and a very important principle in public service. With the transparency can be seen the extent of public services to customers can be achieved. Indonesia as a country is well aware of the importance of transparency have and are applying the principle of transparency in public services. To find out the relationship and the correlation between the two so it is better to understand the public service. Moenir in Pasolong (2007:128), stating that the service is the process of fulfilling the needs of others through activities directly. While a more detailed definition is given by Gronroos in Septi Winarsih Ratminto & Atik (2005:2) that the service is an activity or series of activities that are invisible (intangible) that occur as a result of the interaction between the consumer and the employee or the another thing that the company provided the service providers which is intended to solve the problems of consumers / customers.

According Sinambela (2006:5), "public service is as any activity undertaken by the government against a man who has any activity that is beneficial in a collection or entity, and offering as much satisfaction even though the results are not tied to a physical product". So it can be said that public service is the interaction between the service which in this case the government, to customers in order to achieve a satisfying and solve the problems consumers / customers. Many examples and cases that can be presented on the relationship between transparency in public service. This can occur due to the decentralization adopted by Indonesia as a unitary state that democracy is more incentive to do the aspects of not only the central government but also local governments to meet the needs and demands of society in the region.

Examples of successful cases in the area of transparency in public service that can be used as a model for other regions and should be given the appreciation of the five municipalities of Jakarta on the improvements made in the field of transparency in public service. Some units in five municipal services has received ISO certification as well as gaining national and international awards. Other improvements, for example, in East Jakarta, in the maintenance of KIR, the Provincial Capital City Department of Transportation requires each KIR testers to come to the counters and not related to the intermediary. This information is published every 10 minutes through a loudspeaker. Moreover, it also made ​​the board information about test procedures, test costs, up to a ban related to the intermediary in arranging an extension of KIR test. In West Jakarta BPN posted a bulletin board that contains the prohibition of giving / receiving in return, and the application of strict sanctions for officers who receive rewards. In Central Jakarta, improvements in public services of which performed with the addition of an integrated primary care units, the development of information and communication networks as well as changes to the electronic service manual. In North Jakarta alone there are 6 units of public service that has received ISO Main (http://www.p2ka-wayakan.net).

Based on the examples of cases that have been presented on transparency in public service, it is presumably in accordance with the opinion expressed by Andrianto (2007:20-22) defines transparency as an openness seriously, thoroughly, and make room for the active participation of all levels of society in the process of managing public resources, and public services is the interaction between the service which in this case the government, to customers in order to achieve a satisfying and solve the problems consumers / customers have been able to run in Indonesia, especially in areas that understands that the service which can realize transparent governance and away from KKN practice (corruption, collusion, nepotism).

But in truth, transparency in public services in areas in Indonesia is still a taboo subject and difficult to be realized. Both national and local governments still regard as the stupid people who do not know anything if it is explained about the openness of public service. In addition, the government is also still not understand and know in depth about the transparency principle. In practice the government would only be open about the obligations that must be done by the people, the right thing to do by the government without allowing the public to know their rights and know the obligations of the government itself. Be transparent turbulence of local public services can be illustrated from the case of protests that occurred in East Java Ngawi. The protests are demands for transparency in government service performed by the cost of Regional Ngawi like education and health services for the poor are actually expensive (http://www.liputan6.com).

Imbalance between the rights and obligations of users and service providers indicate several things. First, this shows how weak the government's bargaining position in front of people. Second, the imbalance between the rights and obligations that are often encountered in public service shows inconsistencies in the realization of government transparency (Dwiyanto, 2008:233-234). The lack of government transparency in the public service will be an impact to the difficulty of achieving good governance. it is becoming important because of the transparency and governance have the relationships in which to realize a good governance are the principles and characteristics that one of them is transparency. Further that public service providers in this regard is that the government must engage the public and stakeholders (private, etc.) service users in deciding the policies and rules. Due to the public, government and private sectors (stakeholders) are important elements that must be possessed by good governance as a paradigm.

Various cases have been described above regarding the successes and shortcomings of government both central and local governments regarding the transparency of public services in creating good governance can be stated that the awareness of the importance of transparency of public services is important and has been in the mind of every government. However, because they still enjoy a safe zone and do not want to clean themselves into a better direction to make the treatment of government in terms of transparency of public services neglected and less impressed with the portion of special attention compared to the attention of the government in the suppression of corruption. Whereas the transparency of government in public services will result in cuts in the road or waiting for service learning practice. For that solutions can be given are first, the government further enhance its commitment to transparency in public service. Second, the public as users of educational services provided in order not to happy to do short cuts in services. Third, all the organizers and users of public services should have a clear and detailed rules governing transparency and public service. Fourth, the grant award and punishment to the government, especially local government transparency in public service. Fifth, the combination of public service performed by the government with the use of technology so that existing data generated by the government and the far from manipulation and abuse. All of these solutions will be expected to increase transparency in public service in order to create good governance.

Conclusion

Transparency is a situation where there is a guarantee for any person to obtain information about the organization of government, such as information about the policy-making and implementation processes and outcomes to be achieved. To view the activities of both government and local government is run by the principle of transparency is a public service. Transparency is a concept and a very important principle in public service because of the transparency can be seen the extent of public services to customers can be achieved. Beside that, transparency in public services can also create good governance and far away from KKN practices.

Indonesia as a country are aggressively applying the concept of governance in the practice of government, both central and local governments realize the importance of transparency of public services is important and has been in the mind of every government. However, because they still enjoy a safe zone and do not want to clean themselves into a better direction to make the treatment of government in terms of transparency of public services neglected and less impressed with the portion of special attention compared to the attention of the government in the suppression of corruption. Whereas the transparency of government in public services will result in cuts in the road or waiting for service learning practice. For that solutions can be given are first, the government further enhance its commitment to transparency in public service. Second, the public as users of educational services provided in order not to happy to do short cuts in services. Third, all the organizers and users of public services should have a clear and detailed rules governing transparency and public service. Fourth, the grant award and punishment to the government, especially local government transparency in public service. Fifth, the combination of public service performed by the government with the use of technology so that existing data generated by the government and the far from manipulation and abuse. All of these solutions will be expected to increase transparency in public service in order to create good governance.

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