Discretionary Operations of Frontline Forest Bureaucrats in Tropical Developing Countries: A Case Study from Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Detailed exploration of why and how a certain forest management operation was not implemented will lead to more nuanced understandings of local policy realities. Drawing on the viewpoints of street-level bureaucracy, the present study examined discretionary operations practiced by frontline forest bureaucrats in Java, Indonesia. The study particularly focused on how changes in wider political economic situations affected power relations between frontline forest bureaucrats and locals, and how changed power relations generated discretionary operations both in regulatory and facilitation aspects. The author combined various data collection methods, including a mail-out questionnaire survey for frontline forest bureaucrats, a survey through in-person interviews of village representatives, a survey through in-person interviews of household heads in a village, and participatory observations of events in villages. The findings showed that frontline forest bureaucrats’ discretion included both creative and passive forms; whereas they attempted to accommodate contrasting policy goals of protecting forests and meeting local demands for forests, they felt hesitation to cope with local situations due to increasing bargaining power of locals that resulted from recent democratization processes. Policy options or organizational measures to remove the conditions that result in negative types of discretion should be deliberated based on the realities of frontline forest bureaucrats.