Individual determinants of participation in community development in Indonesia

Given the new decentralization legislation in Indonesia, citizen participation is an increasingly important factor in planning and development policies. Yet policymakers have inadequate information about the types of individuals likely to contribute their knowledge, time, and economic resources to the development process. This paper provides a background and conceptual framework for understanding citizen participation in community development as well as the related components of civil society and social capital in Indonesia. A series of logistic and ordinary least squares regression models are used to analyze the effect of individual demographic and socioeconomic characteristics on the likelihood of participation in community development. I conclude that participatory community development (1) restricts women's participation beyond the role of family caretaker, and (2) has a limited capacity to help the poor.