Politics in the Formulation of Educational Policy as a Form of Power in Public Policy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31943/afkarjournal.v9i2.2244Keywords:
Education Politics, Public Policy, Power, Hegemony, Critical Theory, Power-Knowledge RelationsAbstract
This paper is a qualitative study based on literature review that explores the political dynamics in the formulation of education policy as a manifestation of power in public policy. Education is not merely a technical-administrative process, but rather a strategic field where ideological contestation, vested interests, and power hegemony take place. Employing a critical theoretical approach, particularly Michel Foucault’s concept of power-knowledge relations and Antonio Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, this study analyzes how education policies are designed, negotiated, and implemented within non-neutral power structures. The findings reveal that education policy often serves as a legitimizing tool for dominant power, shaping educational narratives, values, and practices aligned with elite interests. The political process involving state actors, political elites, bureaucracies, and international institutions plays a decisive role in directing the trajectory and content of national education policy. Thus, education policy is not merely a public policy product but also a mechanism of power to govern, discipline, and produce citizen-subjects according to specific ideological constructions. This study recommends the cultivation of critical awareness in reading education policymaking processes, so that the resulting policies truly uphold social justice, emancipation, and structural liberation.
Downloads
References
Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, ed. and trans. Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith (New York: International Publishers, 1971), 12–19.
Apple, M. W. (2004). Ideology and Curriculum (3rd ed.). New York: RoutledgeFalmer.
Apple, M. W., & Beane, J. A. (2007). Democratic Schools: Lessons in Powerful Education. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Ball, S. J. (1994). Education Reform: A Critical and Post-structural Approach.
Bank Dunia. (2014). Indonesia: Pendidikan untuk Semua (Education for All). Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Bob Jessop, “The State and the Contradictions of the Knowledge-Driven Economy,” dalam Changing Modes of Economic and Political Governance, ed. Jeffrey Henderson dan Richard P. Appelbaum (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2005), 57–76.
Bowen, G. A. (2009). "Document Analysis as a Qualitative Research Method", Qualitative Research Journal, 9(2), hlm. 27–40.
Carnoy, M. (1999). Globalization and Educational Reform: What Planners Need to Know. Paris: UNESCO/IIEP, hlm. 6–8.
Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. London: SAGE Publications, hlm. 25–29.
Darmaningtyas, “Privatisasi Pendidikan: Ancaman terhadap Hak Pendidikan Rakyat,” Jurnal Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Vol. 14, No. 3 (2008): 258–270.
Ery Seda, “Politik Pendidikan dan Ketimpangan Sosial,” dalam Pendidikan dan Ketimpangan Sosial di Indonesia, ed. Wardiman Djojonegoro (Jakarta: LP3ES, 2013), 89–102.
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of Language. London: Longman, hlm. 58–59.
Fazal Rizvi and Bob Lingard, Globalizing Education Policy (London: Routledge, 2010), 22–45.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books, hlm. 170–177.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977. New York: Pantheon Books, hlm. 98–99.
Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977. New York: Pantheon Books, hlm. 81–85.
Giroux, H. A. (1983). Theory and Resistance in Education: A Pedagogy for the Opposition. South Hadley: Bergin & Garvey.
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks. New York: International Publishers
Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia. (2020). Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia No. 22 Tahun 2020 tentang Standar Proses Pendidikan pada Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah. Jakarta: Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan RI.
Lasswell, H. D. (1951). The Policy Orientation. Stanford: Stanford University Press, hlm. 3–4.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Beverly Hills: Sage, hlm. 290–294.
Lingard, B., & Sellar, S. (2013). The Global Education Race: Taking the Measure of PISA and International Testing. New York: Teachers College Press
Mazmanian, D. A., & Sabatier, P. A. (1983). Implementation and Public Policy. Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman, hlm. 21–23.
Michel Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, trans. Alan Sheridan (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), 197–228.
Michel Foucault, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972–1977, ed. Colin Gordon (New York: Pantheon Books, 1980), 131–133.
Muhammad Rahman Syah Putra, Aldi Maulana, Hafizorrahman, & Marshanda Putri. (2025). Digital Literacy and Active Citizenship: Strengthening Participatory Democracy on Social Media. Public Policy: Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Dan Kebijakan, 2(2), 156–170. https://doi.org/10.61166/policy.v2i2.29
Mundy, K., et al. (2016). The Handbook of Global Education Policy. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell, hlm. 12–17.
Nur Asyikin, Wulan Rafelia, & Ika Kurnia Sofiani. (2025). The Role Of Technology In Equitable Education: Policy Analysis And Implementation Challenges In Indonesia. Public Service: Jurnal Ilmu Sosial Dan Pendidikan, 2(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.61166/service.v2i1.6
OECD, Education Policy Outlook: Indonesia (Paris: OECD Publishing, 2022), 14–28.
Ozga, J. (2000). Policy, Politics, and the New Educational Governance. London: Routledge
Rizvi, F. (2005). Internationalization and Education Policy: Theories, History, and Politics. Journal of Education Policy, 20(3), 249-266
Rizvi, F., & Lingard, B. (2010). Globalizing Education Policy. New York: Routledge.
Sirozi, M. (2005). Politik Pendidikan Nasional: Dari Orde Lama sampai Reformasi. Jakarta: RajaGrafindo Persada, hlm. 65–68.
Suharto, S. (2018). Pendidikan Nasional dalam Perspektif Pembangunan dan Globalisasi. Jakarta: Kencana.
Suwarno. (2013). Sejarah Pendidikan di Indonesia. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, hlm. 89–93.
Suyanto, “Kebijakan Pendidikan di Indonesia dalam Perspektif Global,” Jurnal Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Vol. 18, No. 4 (2012): 397–409.
Tilaar, H. A. R. (2002). Perubahan Sosial dan Pendidikan: Pengantar Pedagogik Transformatif untuk Indonesia. Jakarta: Grasindo, hlm. 127–132.
Torres, C. A. (2002). Globalization, Education, and the State: Changing Discourses and Contexts. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 43(2), 116-134.
Undang-Undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 20 Tahun 2003 tentang Sistem Pendidikan Nasional.
Yanow, D. (2000). Conducting Interpretive Policy Analysis. Thousand Oaks: Sage, hlm. 10–15.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sya’roni, Mulyadi, Masduki Duryat
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
