316
Barron, Rahayu, Varada, and Febriany
FIGURE 10.4 Satisfaction with local governance and democracy in the Indonesia study provinces, 2005 North Maluku East Java
25
Very satisfied with local democracy
12
No or few government officials engaged in corruption
49 26
Great deal of confidence in local government
18 11
Increased ability to contact local government
15 21 98 99
Voted in last election
0
20
40 60 80 % household survey respondents
100
Source: Household questionnaire.
In North Maluku, BPDs were not yet present in many villages, but other local institutions helped create prosperity. Bodolenge, which has experienced the greatest movement out of poverty among the sample communities, benefited from decentralization. Informants noted that almost no local officials were involved in bribe taking or other forms of corruption. Good local leadership also spurred local collective action, with residents coming together to build a road to the subdistrict capital. In this community, 70 percent of residents also felt that the local government listened to community aspirations before making decisions. In contrast, in Lupotogo the aid and infrastructure development projects that did arrive were implemented through mechanisms that did not involve the community, and villagers were not involved in selecting, designing, or implementing projects. The gap between the government and the governed was one reason for this. Around two-thirds of households surveyed in Lupotogo said that local government was paying less attention to community aspirations than in the past. The programs that Lupotogo received thus had slight impact on poor people, in part because of lack of community involvement, in part because of the apathy of the local government.