A Centralized Pandemic Response in Decentralized Indonesia

In 2001, sweeping decentralization reforms in Indonesia shifted responsibility for the delivery of many basic services from the centre to the regions. In contrast, decision-making authority over a range of key pandemic response measures remains largely centralized. Here, Morris draws on events in the greater Jakarta area during February--Apr 2020 to highlight how these arrangements--together with a dash of politics--slowed initial local responses to COVID-19 without a corresponding payoff in the form of better national coordination.