Blind spots and spotlights in bureaucratic politics: An analysis of policy co‐production in environmental governance dynamics in Indonesia

Abstract

SummaryMotivationThere has been growing interest in recent years in a better understanding of knowledge/science and policy co‐production in environmental governance.PurposeWe aim to shed more light on the politics among the numerous actors shaping ideas that drive environmental policy in Indonesia. We focus our theoretical engagement on a framing of bureaucratic politics, which is a research tradition that has made various strides in explaining the formal and non‐formal processes that influence environmental governance outcomes.Methods and approachBuilding from a wide range of case studies drawn from deep engagement of participatory research in policy‐making in Indonesia, we established a simple typology that helps explain eight categories that emerge when bureaucracies, knowledge institutions, and publics come together to shape environmental governance outcomes.FindingsThe bureaucratic politics specifically clarified the features of cases that have clear fragmentation of bureaucracy but clear explanation variables from the formal and informal interest of bureaucracy. Potential uncovered by bureaucratic politics framing means that, if the metapolitical works alter, the bureaucracy works smoothly or makes it impossible for bureaucracy to operationalize their formal and informal interest in capturing the dynamics of macro and micro politics. In terms of form of knowledge, knowledge produced “from below” can also be used in policy co‐production. It can be produced by non‐expert actors, or from dialogue among them and sympathetic experts that occur below the bureaucracy's radar (people‐driven).Policy implicationsOur ideal policy co‐production implication is where the three actors have a strong foundation of “common consciousness” and interact equally to address a particular environmental policy agenda, with enough working space to jointly commit to creating the knowledge base to shape policy.