Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Indonesian Social and Political Enquiries, ICISPE 2020, 9-10 October 2020, Semarang, Indonesia

Research Article

Deliberative Democracy in Virtual Public Space: A Case Study of Semarang City’s “LAPOR Hendi”

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  • @INPROCEEDINGS{10.4108/eai.9-10-2020.2304719,
        author={Yuwanto  Yuwanto},
        title={Deliberative Democracy in Virtual Public Space: A Case Study of Semarang City’s “LAPOR Hendi”},
        proceedings={Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Indonesian Social and Political Enquiries, ICISPE 2020, 9-10 October 2020, Semarang, Indonesia},
        publisher={EAI},
        proceedings_a={ICISPE},
        year={2021},
        month={3},
        keywords={deliberative democracy virtual public space public policy participation},
        doi={10.4108/eai.9-10-2020.2304719}
    }
    
  • Yuwanto Yuwanto
    Year: 2021
    Deliberative Democracy in Virtual Public Space: A Case Study of Semarang City’s “LAPOR Hendi”
    ICISPE
    EAI
    DOI: 10.4108/eai.9-10-2020.2304719
Yuwanto Yuwanto1,*
  • 1: Universitas Diponegoro
*Contact email: yuwantosaja@gmail.com

Abstract

This study aims to describe how digital public service innovation in Semarang City functions as a deliberative democratic public sphere. Deliberation is a necessary precondition for the legitimacy of democratic political decisions; and the advancement of modern technology has changed the patterns of state and society relationships. In this context, the internet has been regarded as a new form of public sphere and it could be an efficient political instrument. This paper argues that there are reasons to believe about the effectiveness of virtual public space as a fruitful way of deepening democracy by its deliberative practice. The research was conducted in Semarang City by focusing on “LAPOR Hendi” as a part of the Open Government Indonesia (OGI) Project; and using its digital media canals activities namely Twitter, Instagram, Telegram as a source of primary data. The results showed that the implementation of “LAPOR Hendi” has creatively brought most of innovation attributes i.e., relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability; and those creativities implied to its role on the utilization of virtual public sphere for deliberative democracy practices. The role of “LAPOR Hendi” as a means of developing deliberative democracy can also be seen from its accessibility, range and rapidity. In conclusion, those findings generally confirmed that deliberative democracy has been nurtured, developed and improved through “LAPOR Hendi".