"Perubahan besar hasil reformasi belum diimbangi dengan perubahan dalam birokrasi. Birokrasi masih berpola seperti sebelum reformasi.Perkembangan cepat di luar birokrasi mencemaskan birokrasi, karena akan terjadi kooptasi birokrasi oleh politik untuk kepentingan jangka pendeknya, sementara birokrasi hanya dapat menunggu dan tidak dapat berbuat apa-apa, dan sebaliknya.
Topik ini menjadi penting untuk dijadikan fokus penelitian disertasi karena meritokrasi sebagai alternatif pemecahan masalah, setelah rekonseptualisasinya dalam penempatan pejabat di NKRI, dapat befugsi sebagai katalisator bagi interaksi demokrasi dan birokrasi.
Masalah penelitian level makro adalah bagaimana menghasilkan rekonsptualisasi regulasi meritokrasi dalam penempatan pejabat; level meso-1 mengenai tata kelola hubungan kerja antar Paguyuban PAN dan antara Paguyuban PAN dengan Kemendagri dan kementerian teknis lainnya; level meso-2 tentang rekonsptualisasi sistem diklat berbasis kompetenensi; dan level mikro mengenai rekonsptualisasi peran lembaga yang berwenang dalam pelaksanaan pencarian, penemuan dan penempatan pejabat yang kompeten dalam penyelengaraan pemerintahan.
Disertasi ini menggunakan Soft Systems Methodology (SSM)-Based Action Research untuk memperbaiki permasalahan di atas, menyempurnakan dan meningkatkannya sehingga rekonseptualisasi meritokrasi dalam penempatan pejabat untuk birokrasi yang lebih baik dapat dilakukan dengan efektif, efisien, dan sistemik. Tujuh tahap SSM adalah sebuah keniscayaan. SSM dipilih karena memenuhi kriteria yang sesuai dengan permasalahan yang dihadapi dalam dunia nyata birokrasi.
Kesimpulan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pada level makro, meritokrasi bertumpu pada keberadaan undang-undang mengenai kepegawaian. Pada level meso-1, kordinasi belum diperankan secara stratejik dan pada level meso-2 sistem pendidikan dan pelatihan aparatur berbasis kompetensi belum dapat diwujudkan. Pada level mikro, proses pencarian, penemuan dan penempatan pejabat dalam dilakukan Baperjakat. Namun peran kepala daerah lebih menentukan. Rekomendasi level makro adalah pengesahan segera RUU ASN, meso-1 kordinasi intensif, meso-2 perubahan orientasi diklat berbasis kompetensi, level mikro adalah bahwa pencarian, penemuan, dan penempatan pejabat di daerah tidak dilakukan oleh Baperjakat melainkan oleh lembaga independen dan profesional.
Great change took place in several walk of lives as consequences of reforms in 1998 unfortunately were not followed by the bureaucracy. Changes that created new environment in politics, government, policy making, institutions, service delivery and others, in contrast, within bureaucracy are still absent. It still operates in an oldfashioned version as it used to be. The rapid development of its environment made it needs to reforms itself to anticipate the consequences of the growing democracy in the country.
This background revealed the research question in the field of regulation in macro level, coordination in meso level as well as competency-based training, and in the micro level is the possibility of utilising independent body in placing officers, the activity used to be done by Baperjakat.
This dissertation uses SSM-Based Action Research in order to improve, fix, and perfect the situation considered problematic in the real world. For that purpose, 7 standard steps of SSM used and followed. The research category chosen is following McKay and Marshal, that is research interest as well as problem solving interest.
Conceptualisation of meritocracy in each institutional level shows that potentiality of its application is relatively high, opposite with basic regulation in place, the law on personnel management. Such development accommodated already in the draft new law on State Civil Apparatus.
The conclusion of the research shows that at the macro level, the application of the meritocracy in the placement of the officers relay heavily on the availability of the regulations on personnel. In the meso-1 level, coordination is not yet played in a strategic manner among the Menpan office and its affiliation institution, with ministry oh Home Affairs as well as technical ministries. In the meso-2 level, competency-based training is not in place yet. At the micro level, the process of recruitment, finding, and placement indeed done by Baperjakat. However, the head of the region plays more important decision than the functional body. This dissertation recommends at the macro level that the enaction of the law on State Civil Apparatus is a must and need to be perpetuated, at the meso-1 level intensive coordination is the key to develop meritocracy principles, meso-2 level the changing in the training orientation fo the competency-based is a must, and at the micro level the role Baperjakat should be replaced by the independent and professional body. Another important recommendation is that affirmative meritocracy as a derivation from affirmative actions relay heavily on the availability of affirmative policy in the form of law on State Civil Apparatus."
