Comparing Indonesia's party systems of the 1950s and the post-Suharto era: From centrifugal to centripetal inter-party competition

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies

Volumn 39, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 431-453

  Mietzner, Marcus ^a  

^a AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY   (Australia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION; NINETEENTH CENTURY; PARTY POLITICS; POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY; POLITICAL IDEOLOGY; POLITICAL SYSTEM;

ASIA; EURASIA; INDONESIA; SOUTHEAST ASIA;

EID: 52049105385     PISSN: 00224634     EISSN: 14740680     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0022463408000337     Document Type: Article

References (88)

1. Herbert Feith, The Decline of constitutional democracy in Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1962), pp. 123, 126.
2. Ibid., pp. 126-7.
3. Ibid., p. 603.
4. Paige Johnson Tan, 'Indonesia seven years after Soeharto: Party system institutionalization in a new democracy', Contemporary Southeast Asia 28, 1 (2006): 104.
5. Ibid., p. 109.
6. Ibid., p. 110.
7. Ibid., p.109.
8. Ibid., p. 98.
9. See, for example, Dan Slater, 'Indonesia's accountability trap: Party cartels and presidential power after democratic transition', Indonesia, 78 (Oct. 2004), 61-92
10. Dirk Tomsa, 'The Defeat of centralized paternalism: Factionalism, assertive regional cadres, and the long fall of Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung', Indonesia, 81 (Apr. 2006): 1-22
11. Nankyung Choi, 'Local elections and party politics in post-Reformasi Indonesia: A View from Yogyakarta', Contemporary Southeast Asia 26, 2 (2004): 280-301
12. and Andreas Ufen, 'Political parties in post-Soeharto Indonesia: Between politik aliran and "Philippinisation"', GIGA Working Papers no. 37 (Dec. 2006).
13. Giovanni Sartori, Parties and party systems: A Framework for analysis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976)
14. Christoffer Green-Pedersen, 'Center parties, party competition, and the implosion of party systems: A Study of centripetal tendencies in multiparty systems', Political Studies, 52 (2004): 324-41.
15. Sartori introduced several 'classes' of party systems, ranging from one-party systems to atomised multiparty systems. Generally, atomised multiparty systems are those that contain nine relevant parties or more. These systems are so fragmented that the addition of another party doesn't make a difference to the pattern of competition; Sartori, Parties and party systems, p. 125.
16. Traditionalist and modernist Muslims in Indonesia differ in their socio-religious practices and doctrinal orientation. Traditionalists are generally tolerant towards blending the Islamic faith with local traditions, while modernists insist that only the Qu'ran and the exemplary behaviour of the Prophet Muhammad can serve as guidelines for pious Muslims.
17. Jeanne S. Mintz, Mohammed, Marx and Marhaen: The Roots of Indonesian socialism (New York, Washington and London: Praeger, 1965), p. 134.
18. Greg Fealy, 'Ulama and politics in Indonesia: A History of Nahdlatul Ulama, 1952-1967' (Ph.D. diss., Monash University, 1998).
19. Herbert Feith, The Indonesian elections of 1955 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1957).
20. Greg Fealy, 'Parties and parliament: Serving whose interests?' in Indonesia today: Challenges of history, ed. Grayson Lloyd and Shannon Smith (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001), p. 103.
21. Ibid., p. 103.
22. Green-Pedersen, 'Center parties, party competition, and the implosion of party systems', p. 326.
23. B. J. Boland, The Struggle of Islam in modern Indonesia (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1971).
24. Adnan Buyung Nasution, The Aspiration for constitutional government in Indonesia: A Socio-legal study of the Indonesian Konstituante, 1956-1959 (Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan, 1992), p. 103.
25. Donald Hindley, The Communist Party of Indonesia, 1951-1963 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1966), p. 261.
26. Nasution, The Aspiration, p. 111.
27. Ibid., p. 111.
28. Ibid., p. 108.
29. Ibid, p. 114.
30. Tan, 'Indonesia seven years after Soeharto', p. 93. Laakso and Taagepera introduced the concept of the effective number of parties in 1979 in an attempt to weigh the relevance of parties operating in a party system. The number is calculated by squaring the percentage of every party, adding up the squares and dividing one by that sum. M. Laakso and R. Taagepera, 'Effective number of parties: Measure with application to west Europe', Comparative Political Studies, 12, 1 (1979): 3-27.
31. Marcus Mietzner, 'Nationalism and Islamic politics: Political Islam in the post-Soeharto era', in Reformasi: Crisis and change in Indonesia ed. Arief Budiman, Barbara Hatley and Damien Kingsbury (Melbourne: Monash Asia 1nstitute, 1999), pp. 173-99.
32. Interview with Akbar Tandjung, former chairman of Golkar (1998-2004)
33. Jakarta, 17 Nov. 2006.
34. Tan, 'Indonesia seven years after Soeharto', p. 93.
35. PK had been forced to reorganise itself because it had failed to reach the 2 per cent threshold set in 1999 for participation in the next elections.
36. Anies Baswedan, 'Sirkulasi Suara Dalam Pemilu 2004' (unpublished manuscript, 2004).
37. Other newcomers to the party system included the Christian party, Partai Damai Sejahtera (PDS, Party of Peace and Prosperity), which gained 2.1 per cent of the votes, and Partai Bintang Reformasi (PBR, Star Reform Party), a split-off from PPP, which managed to draw 2.4 per cent support.
38. Dwight King, Half-hearted reform: Electoral institutions and the struggle for democracy in Indonesia (Westport, CT and London: Praeger, 2003), p. 134.
39. Baswedan, 'Sirkulasi suara'.
40. R. William Liddle and Saiful Mujani, 'Leadership, party, and religion: Explaining voting behaviour in Indonesia', Comparative Political Studies, 40, 7 (2007): 832-57.
41. Building democratic institutions: Party systems in Latin America, ed. Scott Mainwaring and Timothy Scully (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1995).
42. Tan, 'Indonesia seven years after Soeharto', p. 98.
43. Ibid., p. 103.
44. Ibid., pp. 107-8.
45. Dirk Tomsa, 'Uneven party institutionalization in Indonesia: Explaining the enduring strength of Golkar in the post-Suharto era' (Ph.D. diss., Monash University, 2007).
46. Ufen, 'Political parties in post-Soeharto Indonesia'.
47. 'Parpol Islam Sebaiknya Mengubah Pendekatan', Kompas, 17 Oct. 2006.
48. 'Parpol Membantah Terkorup', Kompas, 27 Dec. 2005.
49. 'Aroma Politik di Balik Dana Kompensasi DPRD', Kompas, 29 Jan. 2006.
50. 'Badan Kehormatan DPR Diharap Proaktif Lanjuti Survei TII', Media Indonesia, 10 Dec. 2004.
51. Vicky Randall and Lars Svasand, 'Party institutionalization in new democracies', Party Politics, 8, 1 (2002): 5-29.
52. Sartori, Parties and party systems.
53. Alan Ware, Political parties and party systems (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
54. Deborah Norden, 'Party relations and democracy in Latin America', Party Politics, 4, 4 (1998): 423-43.
55. Tan, 'Indonesia seven years after Soeharto', p. 98.
56. Baswedan's observations on voter movements within politico-ideological blocs, rather than between them, have not prevented the parties from seeking to penetrate the constituency of their rivals. On the contrary, a series of interviews conducted by the author with senior party officials revealed that they view the persistence of socio-religious cleavages as a challenge to further open their parties in order to make them attractive to voters previously out of their reach.
57. Green-Pedersen uses the term 'center party', suggesting that mostly only one such party exists in multiparty systems. In this article, however, I prefer the term 'centrist parties' as the case of Indonesia provides convincing evidence that more than one party can occupy the centre and trigger the centripetal tendencies described by Sartori.
58. Dewan Pimpinan Pusat Partai Demokrasi Perjuangan, Seri Panduan Partai Demokrasi Indonesia Perjuangan (Jakarta, 2006), p. 5.
59. Interview with Maruarar Sirait, deputy chairman of PDI-P, Jakarta, 22 Oct. 2006.
60. Interview with Pranomo Anung Wibowo, secretary-general of PDI-P, Jakarta, 18 Oct. 2006.
61. Interview with Akbar Tandjung, former chairman of Golkar (1998-2004), Jakarta, 17 Nov. 2006.
62. Interview with Rully Chairul Azwar, deputy secretary-general of Golkar, Jakarta, 18 Sept. 2006.
63. Interview with Theo Sambuaga, deputy chairman of Golkar; Jakarta, 28 Nov. 2006.
64. Idrus Marham, Partai Golkar don dinamika politik multi partai: Memantapkan posisi partai Golkar sebagai partai modern (Jakarta: AMPG Press), p. 143.
65. 'Kalla: Golkar Susah Jadi Oposisi', Suara Merdeka 22 Aug. 2006.
66. Interview with Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, deputy chairman of Golkar, Jakarta, 2 Oct. 2006.
67. Slamet Effendy Yusuf and Umar Basalim, Reformasi konstitusi Indonesia: Perubahan pertama UUD 1945 (Jakarta: Pustaka Indonesia Bersatu, 2000).
68. Interview with Subur Budhisamoso, former chairman of Partai Demokrat Jakarta, 28 Sept. 2006.
69. Interview with Anas Urbaningrum, deputy chairman of Partai Demokrat 13 Nov. 2006.
70. Dewan Pimpinan Pusat Partai Demokrat, Sukses Pemilu (Jakarta, 2006), p. 15.
71. Green-Pedersen, 'Center parties', p. 338.
72. Marcus Mietzner, 'Nahdlatul Ulama and the 1999 general elections in Indonesia', in Pemilu: The 1999 Indonesian election, Annual Indonesia Lecture series no. 22, ed. Susan Blackburn (Melbourne: Monash Asia Lastitute, 1999), pp. 74-5.
73. Partai Persatuan Pembangunan, Rancangan materi Muktamar ke VI (Jakarta, 2007), p. 22.
74. Interviews with Arief Mudatsir Mandan, Jakarta, 19 Oct. 2006
75. Endin AJ. Soefihara, Jakarta, 13 Dec. 2006
76. Alimarwan Hanan, Jakarta, 11 Dec. 2006
77. and Yunus Yosfiah, Jakarta, 6 Dec. 2006.
78. 'Jangan Hinakan Partai degan Politik Uang', Kompas, 30 Jan. 2007.
79. Mietzner, 'Nationalism and Islamic politics', p. 189.
80. According to one senior PAN parliamentarian, Soetrisno had moved the party to the centre not so much because he wanted to distance it from Muhammadiyah, but in order to break with the oppositional attitude of Armen Rais towards the incumbent government. Interview with Djoko Susilo, 14 Sept. 2006.
81. Interview with Rizal Sukma, member of Muhammadiyah's central board, Bandung, 23 Jan. 2007.
82. Sapto Waluyo, Kebangkitan politik dakwah: Konsep dan praktik politik partai Keadilan Sejahtera di Masa Transisi (Bandung: Hsrakutana Publishing, 2005), p. 246.
83. Interview with Hidayat Nurwahid, Jakarta, 7 Nov. 2006.
84. Saiful Mujani, 'Analisis parpol: PKS, tantangan baru politik Indonesia', Media Indonesia, 28 July 2005.
85. For instance, senior Golkar politician Hardisoesilo believed that PKS planned to fundamentally change the demographic composition of Indonesia's society, aiming to increase the number of pious Muslims to such an extent that would make the establishment of an 1slamic state inevitable. Interview with Hardisoesilo, Jakarta, 30 Nov. 2006.
86. Umar Basalim, Pro-kontra Piagam Jakarta di era reformasi (Jakarta: Pustaka Indonesia Satu, 2002), pp. 182, 187.
87. Interview with Hidayat Nurwahid, Jakarta, 7 Nov. 2006.
88. This data was put together by JPPR (Jaringan Pendidikan Pemilih untuk Rakyat, People's Voter Education Network), an association of civil society groups engaged in election monitoring and voter education. I am grateful to Jeremy Gross, programme manager at The Asia Foundation in Jakarta, for sharing the data, which reflects elections held up to June 2007.