Building a Single-Executive Local Governance Model in Indonesia: A Comparative Study of Latvia

Background: Indonesia’s local executive structure places regional heads and deputy regional heads within a joint electoral mandate while assigning them unequal executive authority, creating potential problems of overlapping political legitimacy, institutional ambiguity, accountability, and bureaucratic coordination. Objective: This study examines the feasibility of developing a single-executive local governance model in Indonesia by drawing comparative institutional lessons from Latvia. Methods: The research employs a normative legal method combined with a functional comparative law approach. It examines the constitutional and statutory foundations of local executive leadership in Indonesia and compares them with Latvia’s local government framework across four dimensions: political legitimacy, allocation of executive authority, functional responsibilities, and accountability. Results: The study finds that Article 18(4) of the 1945 Constitution expressly recognizes governors, regents, and mayors but does not constitutionally mandate deputy regional heads, leaving their institutional status largely to statutory design. The Latvian framework demonstrates an alternative arrangement in which democratic legitimacy is concentrated in an elected municipal council, while executive and administrative functions are organized without a jointly elected head–deputy structure. Conclusion: A single-executive model may provide Indonesia with clearer alignment among political legitimacy, executive authority, and accountability. Implication: Reform should be pursued through appropriate statutory restructuring, accompanied by stronger democratic oversight, transparency, legislative scrutiny, administrative accountability, and safeguards against excessive concentration of executive power.