Agile Bureaucracy for Public Policy Accountability: Implementation of the Street Vendor Policy in Indonesia

Abstract

Public policy accountability seems to pose an everdeveloping challenge all around the globe. The increasing rate of complexity at the global scale compels bureaucracies to enhance their capabilities. In reality, however, bureaucracies become the most frequent targets of complaints from civic community organizations with respect to public policy implementations. On the other hand, they are seen as necessary multilateral, but much-in-need-of-reform, actors in global development. The main objective of this study is to build an agile bureaucracy model for public accountability in the implementation of the street vendor (PKL) policy in Indonesia. This model will observe whether agile bureaucracy management is helpful or inhibitory instead to the implementation of public policies. This study will also reveal the demanded accountability and politicization in policy actors’ relationships. Data were collected by interview through focus group discussion (FGD) technique with twenty street vendor groups, with 10 to 15 members in each group. Documentation of informants who were directly involved in activities was also carried out. Data analysis processes included data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. The results of this research showed that building an agile model for the implementation of public policies helps teams with governance to generate high-quality outputs quickly. This features changes to the mindset which prioritizes clear, thorough vision over prescriptive details. This facilitates flexible leadership and organizational structures, cross-functional teams, talent ecosystems, and collaborative cultures and behaviors. Upon improvement and application to all organizations, agile breaks down functional silos, heightens transparency and accountability, and empowers employees. Keywords—agile bureaucracy, public policy accountability, public policy implementation, street vendors