Deliberative Democracy in Action: The Case of Musrenbang in Bandung, Indonesia

Abstract

Indonesia has adopted a regularized public deliberation mechanism as a democratic innovation to ensure the inclusive involvement of citizens in city development planning. This research analyzes how the innovation, called Musrenbang, is conducted in one of the cities in Indonesia: Bandung. To conduct such analysis, we used literature analysis, direct observation, and focus group discussions (FGD s) to gather the research. This research found that Musrenbang in Bandung has the potential to be an ideal deliberative arena, although some challenges that disrupt the deliberation process are still present. We believe that the case of Musrenbang can further contribute to the deliberative democracy literature as a promising example of a regularized official system for public deliberation.