Rereading Nightlife Policy: From Social Regulation to the Reality of Prostitution

Muhammad Imran; Ummi Suci Fathia Bailusy; Muh Fichriyadi Hastira; Widya Astuti; Mujiburrahman

doi:10.24256/pal.v10i2.8035

Authors

Muhammad Imran Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia
Ummi Suci Fathia Bailusy Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia
Muh. Fichriyadi Hastira Universitas Mulawarman, Indonesia
Widya Astuti Universitas Mulawarman, Indonesia
Mujiburrahman Department of International Relations, Gujarat University, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24256/pal.v10i2.8035

Abstract

This study discusses the dynamics of nightlife tax policy in Makassar City, particularly in the Nusantara Street area, which is known as a center of nightlife activities and a location for covert prostitution. Using a descriptive qualitative approach, this study examines how Local Regulation No. 1 of 2024, which stipulates a 75% increase in nightlife tax, functions not only as a fiscal instrument to increase Local Own-Source Revenue (PAD), but also as a social regulatory instrument. The results of the study show that this policy has dual implications: on the one hand, it strengthens the political legitimacy of the city government in responding to the moral demands of the community, but on the other hand, it gives rise to unexpected consequences in the form of new negotiations between the government, nightlife entrepreneurs, and sex workers. High taxes actually encourage the capitalization of sex workers' bodies, widen the economic dependence of the surrounding community on the nightlife industry, and open up space for informal political compromise between entrepreneurs and officials. This study confirms that fiscal policy is never neutral, but is always linked to local social, political, and economic dynamics. The necessary follow-up is strengthening alternative policies based on a humanistic and inclusive approach, such as providing formal employment, economic empowerment programs for women, and more transparent and accountable supervision.

References

Ajir. “Merasa Dipersulit, Pengusaha Hiburan Malam Minta Solusi Ke DPRD Makassar.” Respublica, 2025. https://res-publica.id/2025/06/03/merasa-dipersulit-pengusaha-hiburan-malam-minta-solusi-ke-dprd-makassar/.

Allen Hicken. "Clientelism." Annual Review of Political Science 14, no. 1 (June 15, 2011): 289–310. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.031908.220508.

Amrianto, Andika Dwi, Maria Kunti Atika Putri, Ahmad Yusup, and I Putu Aditya Darma Putra. “Kriminalisasi Dan Reformulasi Perbuatan Prostitusi Dalam Hukum Pidana: Catatan Kritis Atas Minimnya Pengaturan Perbuatan Prostitusi Di Indonesia.” Jurnal Penegakan Hukum Dan Keadilan 4, no. 2 (September 30, 2023): 38–58. https://doi.org/10.18196/jphk.v4i2.18091.

Barros da Gama, Bárbara Monteiro de. "Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body and Primitive Accumulation." Investigación & Desarrollo 27, no. 1 (2020): 265–78. https://doi.org/10.14482/indes.27.1.305.4.

Baudrillard, Jean. "The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures." The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526401502.

Bird, Richard M., and Eric M. Zolt. "The Limited Role of the Personal Income Tax in Developing Countries." Journal of Asian Economics 16, no. 6 (December 2005): 928–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asieco.2005.09.001.

Fajrin, Yaris Adhial, and Ach. Faisol Triwijaya. “Perempuan Dalam Prostitusi: Konstruksi Pelindungan Hukum Terhadap Perempuan Indonesia Dari Perspektif Yuridis Dan Viktimologi.” Eprints.Umm.Ac.Id 10, no. 1 (2019): 67–88. https://tirto.id/1000-buruh-migran-perempuan-.

Farley, Melissa, Ann Cotton, Jacqueline Lynne, Sybille Zumbeck, Frida Spiwak, Maria E. Reyes, Dinorah Alvarez, and Ufuk Sezgin. "Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine Countries." Journal of Trauma Practice 2, no. 3–4 (January 14, 2004): 33–74. https://doi.org/10.1300/J189v02n03_03.

Grindle, Merilee S. "Politics and Policy Implementation in the Third World." Politics and Policy Implementation in the Third World, 2017, 1–311. https://doi.org/10.2307/2619175.

Indonesia, Presiden Republik. UU No 1 tahun 2020 tentang Hubungan Keuangan antara Pemerintah Pusat dan Pemerintah Daerah, Pub. L. No. 1 tahun 2020 (2020).

Klatt, W. "The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia." International Affairs 53, no. 3 (1977): 514–15. https://doi.org/10.2307/2615375.

Lim, Lin Lean. "The Sex Sector – The Economic and Social Bases of Prostitution in Southeast Asia." International Journal of Social Economics 27, no. 3 (2000): 244–55. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijse.2000.27.3.244.1.

Makassar, Pemerintah Kota. Perda Nomor 1 tahun 2024 tentang Pajak Daerah dan Retribusi Daerah, Pub. L. No. 1 tahun 2024 (2024).

Meulen, Emily van der. "Temporarily Yours: Intimacy, Authenticity, and the Commerce of Sex." Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews 38, no. 1 (2009): 87–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/009430610903800154.

Pierson, Paul. "When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change." World Politics 45, no. 4 (July 13, 1993): 595–628. https://doi.org/10.2307/2950710.

Platt, Lucy, Pippa Grenfell, Adam Fletcher, Annik Sorhaindo, Emma Jolley, Tim Rhodes, and Chris Bonell. "Systematic Review Examining Differences in HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Health-Related Harms between Migrant and Non-Migrant Female Sex Workers." Sexually Transmitted Infections 89, no. 4 (June 2013): 311–19. https://doi.org/10.1136/sextrans-2012-050491.

Roelvink, Gerda. "Scales of Justice: Re‐imagining Political Space in a Globalizing World – By Nancy Fraser." New Zealand Geographer 65, no. 2 (2009): 163–64. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-7939.2009.01158_5.x.

Shai, Ayelet, Shahar Koffler, and Yael Hashiloni-Dolev. "Feminism, Gender Medicine and beyond: A Feminist Analysis of 'Gender Medicine.'" International Journal for Equity in Health 20, no. 1 (December 3, 2021): 177. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01511-5.

Silver, Hilary. "Social Exclusion and Social Solidarity: Three Paradigms." International Labour Review 133 (1994): 531–78.

Surtees, Rebecca. "Female Migration and Trafficking in Women: The Indonesian Context." Development 46, no. 3 (2003): 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1110475.

Thompson, E. P. "The Moral Economy Of The English Crowd In The Eighteenth Century." Past and Present 50, no. 1 (1971): 76–136. https://doi.org/10.1093/past/50.1.76.

Yoeti, Oka A. Pengantar Ilmu Pariwisata. Banyuwangi: Angkasa, 2002. https://books.google.co.id/books?id=q48_HAAACAAJ.