Restoration of Budget Control : How It Should Be? A Case Study of the Local Government of Indonesia

Objective – This research aim is to examine the phenomenon of budget control and deviant behavior in order to answer the question: “how should budget control in the government sector be in order to effectively prevent deviant behavior such as budgetary slack?” The study focuses on local governments in Indonesia, where such controls have not been able to combat budgetary slack, which has led to widespread corruption. Methodology/Technique – This study uses the Habermas method to criticize budgetary control practices that continue in the present day.Findings – By creating a public space over localized wisdom-based control, known as an informal control system, the weakness of formal control systems in overcoming budgetary slack with be reduced. Novelty – This study takes a critical approach, while most previous studies have adopted a positivistic approach or an interpretative study