ABSTRACT
Systems of government in countries which have large populations or territories are generally characterized by significant degrees of decentralization. They often take the form of federal systems, such as in India, the USA or Brazil, but can even be negotiated orders such as in China. Indonesia is a large country both in terms of population and area. There are more than 210 million inhabitants distributed across 6000 islands in an archipelago which stretches for 5000 kilometres from east to west and 1770 from north to south. There are also over 300 different ethnic groups. Such statistics suggest that some form of political decentralization would be an appropriate mode of government for Indonesia. However, since 1945, despite debate and legislation on decentralization through regional autonomy (otonomi daerah), centralization has been the dominant theme.
