Decentralization is often justified on the grounds that local governments are closer to citizens and therefore better able to respond to local needs. Yet, much of the existing literature has approached decentralization mainly in terms of administrative performance and service delivery, leaving its implications for community development less clearly understood. This study revisits the issue by bringing together empirical findings from a wide range of contexts. Rather than asking whether decentralization performs better than centralization in general terms, attention is directed to the conditions under which it makes a difference at the community level. The evidence points to a pattern that is far from uniform. Where local authorities operate with sufficient resources, administrative competence, and room for decision-making, decentralization tends to support more responsive and locally grounded forms of service provision. In contrast, where these conditions are weak, especially in smaller or under-resourced jurisdictions, similar arrangements often produce uneven access, limited participation, and fragile outcomes. Taken together, the findings suggest that decentralization cannot be treated as a universally beneficial reform. Its contribution depends on how responsibilities are matched with local capacity, how different scales of governance are organized, and whether institutional arrangements allow communities to exercise meaningful influence over local affairs.
This study examines how internal organizational arrangements shape the way financial institutions respond to broader community needs. The analysis focuses on Islamic banking in Indonesia and considers whether strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS) are associated with the development of more community-centered service practices, as well as the role of organizational learning (OL) in this relationship. The empirical evidence is based on a survey of 142 middle managers from Islamic commercial banks and is analyzed using a partial least squares approach. The results suggest that SPMS are positively associated with both OL and community-centered service strategy (CCSS). More importantly, this relationship appears to operate largely through learning processes, indicating that the influence of formal systems depends on how organizations interpret and make use of performance-related information in practice. This study does not treat service strategy purely in market terms, but instead considers Islamic banks as institutions embedded within broader social and economic contexts. From this perspective, CCSS reflects the ability of banks to respond to issues such as access, service relevance, and trust in local financial systems. The findings point to the importance of internal alignment and learning in supporting this form of responsiveness. The analysis does not directly measure community-level outcomes, and the results should therefore be interpreted as evidence of organizational capacity rather than realized development impact. Nevertheless, this study provides a useful link between management systems and the broader question of how financial institutions may support community-centered development processes.
This study examines learner satisfaction within digital learning environments by situating EdTech Platforms as emerging community-based learning systems. Drawing on the DeLone and McLean Information Systems Success Model (IS Success Model), the research investigates the effects of information quality, service quality, and system quality on learner satisfaction, while incorporating teacher’s role as a moderating factor. Primary data were collected from 473 school students engaged in EdTech Platforms. The findings confirm that all three quality dimensions significantly influence learner satisfaction. Moreover, teacher’s role is signficant in shaping these relationships: It strengthens the effects of information quality and service quality, while reducing the relative impact of system quality. These results suggest that digital learning outcomes are not determined solely by technological features, but are co-produced through interactions between platform characteristics and human support. By interpreting EdTech Platforms as community-oriented learning environments, the study highlights how teacher involvement contributes to the development of supportive, interactive, and adaptive learning communities. The findings offer implications for the design and governance of digital education systems, particularly in contexts where equitable access, engagement, and collective learning experiences are central to community development.
This study examined how the Karampuang indigenous community in South Sulawesi structured local environmental governance through culturally embedded norms, customary institutions, and collective ecological practices. Despite increasing pressures from modernization, changes in land use, and regional development policies, the community has maintained a resilient governance system that regulates access to land, forests, and water through ritualized decision-making, intergenerational knowledge transmission, and clearly defined customary roles. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork including in-depth interviews, participant observation, and documentation of cultural practices, this research investigated how local governance mechanisms were organized, negotiated, and reproduced within daily social life. The study addressed two core questions: (1) How do cultural values and customary authority shape environmental governance in Karampuang? and (2) In what ways do these practices contribute to ecological sustainability and community cohesion? The findings revealed that customary governance operated as a socio-ecological framework that integrated territorial boundaries, communal resource management, and social obligations, which minimizes ecological degradation and reinforces collective responsibility. This paper contributed to broader debates in environmental anthropology, indigenous studies, and community-based resource management by demonstrating how local cultural systems functioned as effective environmental governance regimes. The Karampuang case highlights the continuing relevance of indigenous institutions for addressing sustainability challenges in the contemporary era.
Tidal flooding in Sayung District, Demak Regency, provides concrete evidence of the impacts of climate change and land subsidence in the northern coastal areas of Java, Indonesia. This study aims to analyze the level of community and individual resilience in facing tidal flood disasters using secondary data. Data were obtained from scientific publications, institutional reports, and disaster statistics from the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) and Statistics Indonesia of Demak Regency (BPS Demak Regency). The analysis focused on three main components hazard, vulnerability, and capacity which were then standardized using z-score transformation and combined to construct a composite resilience index. The results indicated that the level of community and individual resilience in Sayung District was generally moderate, with a total resilience index value of −7.944. 70% villages had moderate resilience. Village Loireng, Jetaksari, and Pilangsari were classified as highly resilient, while three villages were classified as having low resilience (Gemulak, Timbulsloko, and Surodadi). Social resilience is reflected in strong community cooperation, although prolonged exposure to tidal flooding shows signs of declining adaptive engagement among residents. Economic resilience is largely suppported by the continued viability of fisheries and aquaculture livelihoods, which remain central to local adaptive strategies. Meanwhile, environmental resilience is weakened by mangrove degradation and land subsidence. From an individual perspective, levels of disaster knowledge and social support contribute positively to adaptive capacity despite risk normalization behavior.
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