Transforming Digital Complaints into Policy Correction for Adaptive and Responsive Public Service Governance in Indonesia Wydha Mustika Maharani, Yaen Miftakhul Laily, Fajri Maulana, Masadib Akmal Vyandri, Muhamad Nanda Al Hakim Akbar
Jember University
Abstract
Digital complaint systems have become a central instrument in Indonesia public service transformation. However, the availability of digital complaint channels does not automatically produce adaptive and responsive governance. In many cases, citizens complaints are received, verified, responded to, and administratively closed, yet they do not necessarily lead to procedural correction, service improvement, or institutional learning. This study examines how digital complaints can be transformed from individual service feedback into policy correction mechanisms within public service governance.
Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, this study first analyzes complaint data and survey responses to identify patterns of complaint handling, response speed, follow-up quality, perceived responsiveness, and indications of corrective action. The qualitative phase then explains these patterns through in-depth interviews, document analysis, and process tracing of selected complaint cases. Responsive governance is employed as the main analytical lens, supported by the design-reality gap model and policy learning perspective.
This study develops the concept of complaint-to-policy correction to explain how citizen complaints may function not only as expressions of dissatisfaction but also as inputs for institutional improvement. The argument advanced in this study is that digital responsiveness depends not merely on the existence of complaint platforms or the speed of administrative response, but on the governments capacity to listen, verify, coordinate, learn, and institutionalize corrective actions. By linking digital complaint handling with policy learning and institutional correction, this study contributes to the literature on digital public administration, responsive governance, and public service accountability in developing democratic contexts.
Keywords: digital complaint, responsive governance, policy correction, public service delivery, digital public administration
Topic: Building Adaptive and Digitally-Enabled Public Administrations for Responsive Governance (Adaptive Governance- Digital Public Administration- Responsive Public Service Delivery)
