Community Participation in Decentralized Rural Development : A Case Study of Three Villages in Purbalingga District, Indonesia <Article>

After a long time practice of centralized rural development, the government of Indonesia in 2001 applied decentralized system and transferred the authorities on planning, execution and evaluation of rural development to village government. Designed to promote community participation, the system aims to replace the state led rural development previously applied. However, after the authorities were transferred, there is a question whether the system can really facilitate community participation. This study analyzes community participation in Indonesian decentralized system by focusing on rural development planning, execution and evaluation. Case study was conducted in Serang, Kedarpan and Sumilir villages in Purbalingga District. Data were collected through interviews, informal discussions, observations and documentary studies. Data analysis shows that the inexistence of guideline on how to involve community in decision making has resulted in the differences of the type of planning meeting. While Serang and Sumilir village apply open meeting, Kedarpan village prefers to apply representation meeting. In execution, community involvement is prominent, yet the system cannot fully abolish the practice of coercive mobilization of local resources. Finally, in evaluation stage, community is not involved much to evaluate the projects and accountability practice is still weak. Overall, this study finds that village head is the main actor determining what mechanism will be conducted to involve community in rural development.