The contestation of ideas behind Indonesia's rural electrification policies: The influence of global and national institutional dynamics

Hafidz Wibisono, Jon C. Lovett and Dhimas Bayu Anindito

Development Policy Review, 2023, vol. 41, issue 1

Abstract: Motivation Progress in Indonesia towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 involves contestation between the global goals and the country's political ambition. The electrification rates ambition has triggered a policy trilemma. There are targets for meeting national energy demand; there are equally important targets for improving energy access and minimizing negative impacts on the environment. Purpose This article illustrates idea contestation within Indonesia's rural electricity policy subsystem by: (1) analysing the position of the global sustainability storyline in pre‐ and post‐SDG and Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) periods; and (2) exploring the dynamic of coalition structure within both periods. Methods and approach The data is derived from statements of political actors in the national news articles and is analysed using Discourse Network Analysis. To investigate the influence of global agendas, we perform a timeframe analysis in pre‐ and post‐SDG and NDC periods. Findings Our analysis presented empirical evidence of the energy trilemma. The contestation between energy access, energy security, and climate change mitigation is observed in the ideas that emerged within the existing storylines. We find that sustainability has not been a primary topic of debate within the policy subsystem in pre‐ and post‐SDG and NDC periods. The findings also reveal how the global deployment of sustainability has triggered the emergence of discursive intermediaries within the policy subsystem. They are essential to framing global environmental issues to fit into internal debates. Policy implications First, the narration of implementing renewable energy has to emphasize its benefits over the energy poverty problem while injecting some messages related to environmental profit. Second, the issue of decentralization has always been the most frequent and mutually connected topic, both in terms of source utilization and governance. Therefore, it needs more attention from policy‐makers.

Date: 2023
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