<![CDATA[Indonesia's special autonomy regime for Papua combines political recognition with exceptional intergovernmental transfers, yet the conversion of fiscal resources into equitable public value remains contested. This article examines that conversion process in Raja Ampat Regency, an archipelagic district whose geographic fragmentation makes the costs and politics of service delivery unusually visible. It asks how special autonomy is implemented locally, how fiscal capacity interacts with political and administrative institutions, and which governance arrangements can make expenditure more responsive to Indigenous Papuan communities. The study uses a qualitative documentary case-study design. It integrates statutory and policy documents, official fiscal allocations, district statistics for 2022–2024, and peer-reviewed research through structured document analysis and thematic synthesis. The results show that Raja Ampat received approximately IDR 276.875 billion in combined special-autonomy and additional-infrastructure allocations for fiscal year 2025, equivalent to about 18% of its reported central-government transfers. Over 2022–2024, the official statistical series used in the study recorded a decline in poverty from 17.32% to 15.83% and a rise in the Human Development Index from 65.41 to 66.60, while economic growth decelerated sharply from 11.87% to 0.41%. These parallel trends are descriptive rather than causal. The analysis identifies five filters between funding and outcomes: political prioritisation, administrative capability, archipelagic delivery costs, the accessibility of fiscal information, and the strength of participation and oversight. The article develops a governance-conversion model that links locally grounded planning, spatially weighted budgeting, accessible transparency, traceable participation, outcome accountability, and collaborative oversight. Special autonomy, it concludes, should be assessed not by absorption or aggregate allocation alone, but by its capacity to reduce territorially patterned disadvantages and expand substantive self-government.]]>
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