The seeds of the DPP were sown with the establishment of the Academy for Political Sciences (AIP) in Yogyakarta in 1947. This academy was intended to meet the human resource needs of the Department of Domestic Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Department of Information during the national revolution.

Several years after its establishment, AIP was integrated into Universitas Gadjah Mada, which had been established in 1949. Over time, the various programmes offered by the academy—i.e. Government Science, International Relations, and Communications—were integrated into the Faculty of Law, Society, and Politics (HSP, 1949), and ultimately the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences in 1955.

Over the following years, the Government Science Programme experienced several crises as a result of Indonesia’s economic and political situation. Indeed, for a time following the turmoil of 1965, this programme was essentially inactive owing to extensive polemics that affected the programme’s internal dynamics. Ultimately, the Government Science Programme was reformed, and it has continued to grow and develop. As one of the oldest schools of political and government science in Indonesia, it has sought to continuously strengthen its teaching staff and revise its curriculum through comprehensive political and government research. As a result, the Government Science Programme (JIP) was renamed the Politics and Government Programme (JPP); in 2015, it was formally renamed the Department of Politics and Governance (DPP). The department has contributed to the development of political and government sciences of the nation, and it is thus not surprising that DPP remains a focal point for the development of political and government sciences in Indonesia.