|
Abstract. Citizen participation is a manifestation of people empowerment, an effort to improve people’s abilityin decision making, as well as an attempt to control society’s own future. Local government in Semarang isaware of such urgency of participation and thus establishes the Center of Public Service Complaint Management(CPSCM) as an institution to coordinate, implement, and manage people’s complaints of public service. Thisresearch uses qualitative approach with Amstein’s ladder of citizen participation, and Burns, Hambleton &Hogget’s ladder of citizen empowerment as the main theories. This research aims to analyze factors thatinfluence the effectiveness of CPSCM as an instrument of citizen participation in public service; as well as tocreate an alternative solution to improve citizen participation. The research shows that there are five factorsinfluencing the effectiveness of CPSCM, i. e. accommodative leadership particularly that of Semarang City’smayor; local constitution and regulation; the role of civil society, mainly non-governmental organizations; andspecial events. This research also suggests some alternative solutions to improve citizen participation, such as:socializing the existence of CPSCM and establishing more transparent management of complaints; involvingLocal Representative Council to gain stronger legality of CPSCM; thoroughly evaluating the contribution ofCPSCM for society and the government; encouraging more academic study on such complaints managementinstitution. |
