Democratization in Indonesia: Strong State and Vibrant Civil Society

Abstract

Since the Reform Era began in 1998, a democratization process has taken place in Indonesia. By assessing the three elements of state, economy, and society, and the evolution of their interactions, this study concludes that Indonesia’s contemporary political condition has been shaped by a continuously strong and dominant state, increased participation of society, and the adoption of the developmental state model. The state remains a dominant actor since a strong presence and role of the state continues to be sustained by the elites to maintain power. Society’s demands to receive government assistance have deepened the state’s role. While in the past the state was heavily supported by the military, today, the presence of the military within the democratic system has significantly diminished and been replaced by different economic actors. The elites are more dependent on support from society to remain in power and to implement policies that are generally achieved through economic incentives. Public participation appears in a majority of social, economic, and even political affairs, mainly to fulfill the requirement of being democratic. As for the economy, its role is becoming larger and has increasingly been used to replace the coercive power approach.

Keywords:

• Democratization
• Indonesia
• state
• economy
• civil society

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions made by Mireille Marcia Karman and Adriana Anjani in the research and writing process of this study.

Notes

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2 Ibid., 197.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

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14 Ibid.

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28 Ibid., 167.

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48 Ibid., 814.

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58 Ibid., 11.

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60 Ibid., 174.

61 Benedict Anderson, “Exit Suharto: Obituary for a Mediocre Tyrant,” New Left Review (2008): 45.

62 Ibid., 56.

63 Buehler, The Politics of Shari’a Law, 104.

64 Robert Dahl, On Democracy (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998), 37.

65 Buehler, The Politics of Shari’a Law, 168.

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68 Winters, “Oligarchy and Democracy,” 15.

Additional information

Funding

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Korea.