State apparatus and public services: how should their relationship be?

Extract

Dear editor,

We have read attentively the latest article that has just been published regarding ‘Policymaking and the role of government in promoting public health in Indonesia’.¹ This topic is very interesting if discussed further regarding the relationship between state apparatus and public services.

The duties and authorities of state apparatus are contained in Article 10 of Law Number 5 of 2014 concerning State Civil Apparatus, and from this article the main authority in the state apparatus is to protect and become a figure who helps the community in terms of services provided to the community. The services provided to the community use the new public service model, which means services based on the theory of democracy by studying the equality of rights and obligations among citizens. This model shows that public interests are formulated as a result of dialogue from various values that arise in society, not something that is formulated for free by the political elite. The role of local government is to negotiate and explore various interests from the community and various community groups that exist. In this model, the public bureaucracy must not only be accountable to various legal regulations but must also be accountable to the values that exist in society, applicable political norms, professional standards and community interests.^2–5