Trapped between institutions and politics: The role of politics and social dynamics in institutional performance for flood defense management in Jakarta, Indonesia

Flood defense management in Jakarta is a critical governmental activity given that Jakarta is a low-lying delta metropolis and trade center which relies on its safety for the continuity of the economic activities. Despite the urgency for action flood defense policy implementation was a lengthy and strenuous process that lasted 30 years (1973-2003). The policy alternative of the Eastern Flood Canal was available and gained consensus early during the policy design process but it was only enforced when institutional and political changes were coupled in 2003. Earlier evaluations pointed at the lack of financial resources as a cause of delayed implementation; we explore the causes of the delay beyond budgetary reasons. In our research we use Kingdon’s Stream Model to structure the policy design and implementation process of the Eastern Flood Canal project and analyze the co-evolution of politics (political stream), policies (solutions stream) and socio-ecological context (problem stream). We synthesize data from desk research on legal documents, and field research (18 in-person interviews). Our research revealed three critical causes for the implementation delay: (a) Institutional misalignment between local and national level. This misalignment of institutions created miscommunications and illcoordination between municipal and ministerial authorities. (b) Absence of critical actors in the policy process. Actors such as Provincial authority and Ministry of Finance were not invited in the policy design process despite the fact that they hold critical financial and administrative resources for the realization of the flood defense infrastructure; and (c) Implementation was feasible only when political and institutional developments coupled