Digital governance, public leadership and social inequality in Indonesia: a mixed-methods study

Le résumé fourni par la source

Digitalization has become a central instrument of public governance reform in developing countries, including Indonesia, with significant implications for population groups experiencing unequal access to public services. This study examines the influence of digitalization on public leadership effectiveness within a posthuman governance framework, emphasizing how digital systems mediate governance outcomes across heterogeneous populations. Using a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, the study integrates survey data from 100 citizens with in-depth interviews involving public officials, community leaders and civil society actors. The analysis investigates the relationships among digital public services, leadership effectiveness, public trust, service satisfaction and digital inclusion. The findings demonstrate that digitalization enhances perceived public leadership effectiveness by increasing transparency, service responsiveness and accessibility, thereby contributing to higher levels of institutional trust and service satisfaction. However, population-level disparities persist, as differences in digital literacy, infrastructural availability and regional context significantly shape citizens’ ability to benefit from digital governance. Qualitative evidence indicates that leadership effectiveness operates as a mediating social mechanism, enabling or constraining the translation of digital technologies into inclusive governance outcomes. Leaders with strong digital competence and adaptive capacities are better positioned to address structural inequalities and align technological innovation with population needs. This study contributes to population and social studies by demonstrating that digital governance outcomes are socially contingent rather than technologically deterministic. It recommends strengthening digital leadership development, expanding population-based digital literacy initiatives and prioritizing equitable infrastructure investment to reduce governance inequalities in Indonesia.

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