Politics of Indonesia

Indonesia is often referred to as the world’s largest Muslim democracy. This characterization testifies to the country’s large population (at approximately 270 million, it is the world’s fourth most populous) and to the vast majority (approximately 87 percent) professing the Islamic faith. But Indonesia is also a country of immense ethno-linguistic heterogeneity, even among its dominant Muslim demographic. While this complex social fabric is reflected in the state motto of “Unity in Diversity,” it also has contributed to contentious processes of nation-building over decades wherein different forms of collective violence have figured prominently. Dutch traders arrived in the archipelago in the 16th century, but not until the mid-19th century did a colonial administration gain coherence on the main island of Java. This bureaucracy made uneven headway in the more sparsely populated outer islands. Colonialization spurred an inclusive anticolonial nationalist movement, despite the existence and persistence of deep factions along religious, ethnic, and ideological lines. The movement’s leaders proclaimed independence following Japan’s surrender in World War II, although it took a bloody revolutionary war, coupled with intense negotiations, for the country’s sovereignty to be formally recognized in 1949. Less than two decades of shaky parliamentary democracy followed, but democracy was replaced by authoritarianism, first gradually by President Sukarno (or Soekarno), and then more violently by General Suharto (or Soeharto), who gained power via an anti-Communist massacre in 1965 and 1966. The Cold War strongman also dedicated his New Order regime to developing the country economically, despite his government’s legendary corruption. Before the authoritarian Suharto was forced to resign following three decades in power in 1998, amid the Asian Financial Crisis, the World Bank had classified Indonesia as a lower-middle-income country. Today, Indonesia is a procedural democracy with a mixed presidential and parliamentary system, although the president has tended to outmuscle the legislature. Indonesiaand regularly holds competitive national and local elections, leading the country to be hailed as a successful case of a stable Muslim democracy. But mounting and destabilizing Islamism has led scholars of late to reexamine how consolidated Indonesia’s democracy actually is. State institutions are weak, for example, and corrupt political parties have enabled worrisome polarization. Debates on improving the country’s democratic deficits, such as alleviating poverty more swiftly and institutionalizing the rule of law, consume scholars and observers alike, as do discussions on protecting public civility and minority rights (even for key sectors of Muslims) amid rising religious nationalism.