Navigating Ideational Dynamics: Actor-Policy Interactions in the Implementation of Indonesia's Higher Education Reform

Abstract

This thesis explores the diversity of actors' ideas, beliefs, and traditions in influencing and shaping their implementation of public policies. Drawing on the experience of higher education reform in Indonesia between 1999 and 2019, this thesis illuminates the intricate nature of actor-policy interactions by asking: how do actors' held beliefs and traditions shape their responses to 'new' ideas propagated by policies? And what do these interpretations and actions mean for policy implementation? This thesis uses an interpretive approach to explore academics' interpretations of a series of regulatory changes intended to shape their behaviour.

This study demonstrates that the implementation of research-related policies in Indonesian higher education constitutes complex actor-policy ideational interactions that might not always be goal-oriented endeavours but also expressive acts. Central to these interactions are dilemmas that might arise from individual academics' ideational and institutional contexts. Facilitated by their 'situated' agency, Indonesian academics' interpretations and actions in response to dilemmas may constitute diverse acts that display a degree of discord with policy intents. This thesis contends that these incongruities depict academics' improvisations to overcome institutional conflicts rather than mere acts of negligence.

Through decentred analysis, the thesis illuminates how policy implementation is an art and craft instead of a mere technocratic and structured effort. By combining the cultural approach and interpretivism, it also provides an alternative framework and methodological approach to study policy implementation. Finally, this thesis contributes to understanding the governance complexities of Indonesian higher education as one of the region's most dynamic higher education sectors. Show more