A Reciprocal Exchange

Abstract

This chapter asks: what determines the scope for criminal justice cooperation between Australia and Indonesia? It demonstrates that the practice of reciprocity is central to the realization of cooperation and, critically, is practised differently by different actors. Politicians are more likely to pursue specific reciprocity—or what is otherwise called ‘tit-for-tat’—because they are inclined to view their (political) interests differently. Police and other bureaucrats are more likely to pursue diffuse reciprocity—which involves a rougher balancing of interests over the longer term—because they are inclined to see their (policy) interests as mutual. As it is less exacting and time-bound than specific reciprocity, a strategy of diffuse reciprocity increases the scope for cooperation. Based on this analysis, the chapter concludes that the greater the perception of mutual interests by actors engaged in the cooperative relationship, the greater the scope for cooperation.