Politics in Contemporary Indonesia: Institutional Change, Policy Challenges and Democratic Decline.

AuthorSayirani, Amalinda

Politics in Contemporary Indonesia: Institutional Change, Policy Challenges and Democratic Decline. By Ken M.P. Setiawan and Dirk Tomas. Abingdon, UK: Routledge, 2022. Softcover: 224pp.

In 1962, following President Soekarno's adoption of the "Guided Democracy" principle three years earlier, the noted Indonesianist Herbert Feith published a book titled The Decline of Constitutional Democracy in Indonesia. In it, Feith asked the question "why has parliamentary democracy failed in Indonesia?". His fellow Indonesianist, Harry Benda, however, criticized Feith for asking the "wrong" question, as he felt a more appropriate question was "why should democracy have survived?" in Indonesia. In a 1964 review of Feith's book, Benda argued that democracy would never survive in Indonesia because Javanese feudalistic culture was still very much alive.

Ken Setiawan and Dirk Tomsa's book, Politics in Contemporary Indonesia: Institutional Change, Policy Challenges and Democratic Decline, addresses the perennial question about the fate and future of Indonesian democracy, particularly after Reformasi in 1998. In thirteen chapters, the authors provide readers with an encyclopedic overview of the many facets of contemporary Indonesian politics and society, including the electoral system, local government, the role of Islam, civil society and the media, public health, gender inequality, human rights, environmental politics and foreign policy.

The book echoes a worrying opinion common among many Indonesianists, that the country is experiencing a democratic regression characterized by increasingly "illiberal" trends. To support this observation, some scholars have cited the rise of conservative Islamic politics, the restrictions imposed on opposition groups and the reduced protections for minority groups. What Setiawan and Tomsa have done differently in their book is to examine Indonesia's democratic backsliding over a range of issues. The authors do so while standing firmly on their institutionalist perspective. Throughout the book, they illustrate how the institutional framework and design of Indonesia's electoral and governance systems have contributed to the decline of democratic values and practices.

In Chapter Three, on Indonesia's political institutions, for instance, the authors explore the decision to elevate the threshold for political parties to field presidential candidates. In 2004, parties were able to nominate presidential candidates if they had...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT