—Bernard Nicholas Singarimbun, doctoral researcher, University of Hamburg
Academic work is, by its nature, invisible. Unlike many professions whose outputs are immediately observable, the value of scholarship emerges gradually through ideas, research, teaching, and intellectual exchange. Academics do not simply produce publications; they cultivate knowledge, educate people, and contribute to the ideas and institutions that shape how societies understand law, policies, in responding the social challenges. Their influence is often indirect and rarely celebrated, yet it is precisely this quiet and cumulative contribution that enables democratic institutions and constitutional orders to develop over time. This raises an important question: how should the value of academic work be understood when many of its most significant contributions remain difficult to measure? This short article argues that recognising and valuing these often-invisible contributions is essential to understanding the true public role and societal impact of academic’s work.
The Welfare of Academics
In Indonesia, discussions regarding academics have long centered on their academic welfare. This concern has recently gained public attention following a case that surfaced on social media in which concerns were raised about low lecturer salaries, including a testimony from a lecturer at an institution at the Constitutional Court who stated that her basic monthly salary is under IDR 3 million (USD 150). This issue has sparked wider concern, especially considering the heavy workload academics need to carry.
The academics associations viewed this issue as more than a matter of administrative regulation, highlighting that it has a constitutional dimension related to the responsibility of the government to protect workers’ rights and guarantee fair treatment for academics. Based on this understanding, they brought the matter to the Indonesian Constitutional Court through an application for judicial review of Law No 14 of 2005 concerning Teachers and Lecturers, registered as Case No. 24/PUU-XXIV/2026. They argue that this Law does not provide sufficient legal certainty regarding lecturers’ welfare and fails to establish clear standards for determining functional allowances. Article 51 paragraph (1) of the Law provides that lecturers are entitled to receive an income above minimum living needs and social welfare guarantees, while Article 52 paragraph (1) identifies the various components of lecturers’ income, including professional allowances, functional allowances, and other benefits related to their duties. These provisions demonstrate that the State has recognized welfare as an important element of the lecturer profession. However, the petitioners argue that such recognition remains incomplete without clear and measurable standards governing the implementation of functional allowances under Article 54 paragraph (1) of the Law.
They therefore contend that the regulation of academic’s remuneration should adopt a more objective and rights-based approach. Functional allowances should not depend solely on governmental discretion or budgetary considerations but should be determined through transparent criteria that consider workload, academic qualifications, research responsibilities, professional rank, and social contribution. Such an approach would strengthen the constitutional guarantees contained in Article 27 paragraph (2) of the 1945 Indonesian Constitution concerning the right to work and obtain a livelihood appropriate for human dignity, as well as Article 28D paragraph (1) and paragraph (2), which guarantee legal certainty and the right to fair and proper remuneration.
As Stephen Holmes and Cass R. Sunstein famously observe in The Cost of Rights, “all rights are positive rights” because every constitutional right depends on public institutions, financial resources, and State action for its effective implementation. The right to education therefore requires continuous institutional support and investment in human capacity rather than merely constitutional acknowledgment. Robert Alexy in his book A Theory of Constitutional Rights also explains that constitutional rights are optimization requirements, requiring the State to pursue their realization to the greatest extent possible within existing legal and factual constraints. This understanding implies that the State’s constitutional responsibility extends beyond formally recognizing the right to education; it must also ensure that the institutional conditions necessary for the effective enjoyment of that right are maintained. Viewed from this perspective, lecturer remuneration is not merely an issue of employment conditions, but part of the State’s broader constitutional responsibility to ensure the effective realisation of the right to education. Adequate support for academics is therefore essential not only for their welfare, but also for sustaining the quality and continuity of higher education as a public institution.
Scholarly Perspective: Academics as Constitutional Actors
From a constitutional perspective, academics should be seen as constitutional actors, whose work is indispensable to the realization of constitutional rights, particularly the right to education. Liora Lazarus highlights that constitutional actors are not limited to formal State institutions but may also include individuals and institutions that contribute to the interpretation, development, and protection of constitutional values. In this regard, academics play an important role in shaping constitutional discourse through the production and dissemination of knowledge. Building on this understanding,Adrienne Stone argues, if universities are understood as knowledge institutions with a constitutional role comparable to other constitutional institutions, then scholars themselves must be recognized as constitutional actors. Their primary responsibility lies in the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge through academic inquiry, conducted in accordance with the principles and methods of their respective disciplines. This perspective broadens the conventional employment-based understanding of academic staff by recognizing that scholars perform a public constitutional function. Through teaching, research, supervision, and the dissemination of knowledge, they contribute not only to the operation of universities but also to the State’s fulfilment of its constitutional obligation to provide quality education and promote intellectual development. In this sense, universities constitute part of the constitutional infrastructure of a democratic society rather than merely administrative organizations. In Indonesia, the constitutional basis for education is clearly established in Article 31 of the 1945 Indonesian Constitution, which guarantees the right to education and obliges the State to finance and organize a national education system. This is further supported by the Law No. 20 of 2003 on the National Education System, which defines higher education as a strategic part of national development. Within this framework, academics have a central role in achieving the objectives of higher education through the implementation of the Tridharma Perguruan Tinggi, consisting of teaching, researching, and conducting community service. These three pillars demonstrate that lecturers are not only educators but also knowledge producers and contributors to social development.
Academics as Artists of Democracy
Democracy is often associated with visible institutions such as executives, legislatures, and courts. However, democracy also depends on less visible actors who create, preserve, and challenge the ideas that shape society. Academics are among these actors. Yet despite their important role, academics can also become a vulnerable group within the constitutional system. Their vulnerability does not only relate to economic conditions, but also to professional insecurity, limited welfare protection, and pressures that may affect academic independence. When those responsible for producing knowledge lack adequate protection, the capacity of universities to function as spaces for free inquiry and democratic discussion may also be weakened.
For Indonesia, addressing academic vulnerability requires moving beyond a welfare-based approach that views lecturers’ remuneration merely as an employment benefit. There is a need to adopt a constitutional approach that recognizes academic welfare as an institutional guarantee necessary for the functioning of democracy and the right to education. Based on a rights-based constitutional approach, academics’ welfare should therefore be understood not as a discretionary policy benefit but as part of the State’s positive obligation to protect the conditions necessary for the fulfilment of constitutional rights. The State should establish a clear and objective protection framework that includes fair remuneration standards, protection of academic freedom, institutional independence, and meaningful participation of academic communities in education policy-making. It would also require Indonesia to rethink the position of academics: they should not remain invisible artists whose contributions are recognized only after generations have benefited from their work, but should be acknowledged as guardians of democracy and the rule of law.
Suggested citation: Bernard Nicholas Singarimbun, Academics are the Invisible Artist of Democracy: Rethinking Their Roles in Indonesia, Int’l J. Const. L. Blog, Aug. 21, 2026, at: http://www.iconnectblog.com/academics-are-the-invisible-artist-of-democracy-rethinking-their-roles-in-indonesia/