Trends in Community Evaluation of State Institutions

Public trust in state institutions is an important indicator of the sustainability of government. Without the trust of the people, state institutions cannot function optimally. Public trust is like a bridge that represents the legitimacy of the people towards institutions, as well as a form of the effectiveness of a democratic government. The government could be in danger if the majority of the people do not trust the institutions of the state for a long time.

Then, how do the Indonesian people trust government institutions? The following are the results of a survey by the Populi Center regarding evaluations by the Indonesian public of state institutions in Indonesia periodically from August 2017 to October 2020. The question posed was "among the following institutions, which one is the most trustworthy?"
There are 11 state institutions that received evaluations from the public, including the President, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the Indonesian Police (Polri), the People's Representative Council (DPR)/Regional People's Representative Council (DPRD), the Court Supreme Court (MA), the Constitutional Court (MK), the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), the General Elections Commission (KPU), the Attorney General's Office, and political parties.

Broadly speaking, the public gave the President, the TNI and the Corruption Eradication Commission a high (most credible) rating. Meanwhile, the public gave low ratings to the National Police, DPR/DPRD, MA, MK, BPK, KPU, Attorney General's Office, and political parties.

 

Graph 1
Evaluation of State Institutions (Top 5)

Source: Populi Center Survey

 

Based on the graph above, in the period August 2017-October 2020, the public's evaluation of the TNI, Polri, and DPR/DPRD tended to fluctuate. The graph that shows sharp increases and decreases is the public's assessment of the President and the KPK. The public's assessment of the President had dropped dramatically in the February 2018 survey with 18.8 percent. The public's trust in the president then increased and again became the most trusted institution by the public with 36.0 percent in the next survey in April 2018. Trust in the president once reached the highest position with 42.2 percent in the June 2018 survey.

Meanwhile, the Corruption Eradication Commission was the institution that received the most trust, even surpassing the President, in February 2018 with 27.1 percent. The assessment of the KPK then went up and down again, until it finally dropped drastically in the last three surveys. In the February 2019 survey, the public's assessment of the KPK was 20.2 percent, then decreased to 15.4 percent in November 2019, and again dropped sharply with 6.8 percent in October 2020.

The sharp decline in public trust in the KPK occurred when the government was again active in discussing the revision of the KPK Law which was then ratified in September 2019. During this period there was also a rotation of leadership at the KPK. Four KPK leaders, namely Agus Rahardjo, Laode M Syarif, Basaria Pandjaitanl, and Saut Situmorang were replaced by Firli Bahuri, Lili Pintauli Siregar, Nurul Ghufron, and Nawawi Pomolango. Meanwhile, Alexander Marwata, who served in the Agus Rahardjo era, resumed his leadership in the Firli Bahuri era.

 

Graph 2
Evaluation of State Institutions (Bottom 6)

Source: Populi Center Survey

 

The graph above shows the institutions that rank in the bottom 6 from the public's assessment, namely the Supreme Court, Supreme Court, BPK, KPU, Attorney General's Office, and Political Parties. In the last survey conducted in October 2020, people who considered the Supreme Court to be the most trustworthy institution were 1.9 percent, while people who answered MK were 1.4 percent, BPK was 1.4 percent, KPU was 1.0 percent, Attorney General's Office by 0.6 percent, and in the last position, political parties by 0.4 percent.

The government's concern is the low level of public trust in law enforcement agencies, election organizers, let alone political parties. Because, if left unchecked, this condition will endanger the stability of democracy because it reduces the political legitimacy of the people in executing law, administrators, and election participants.