Political Culture

Political culture is an aspect of political reform that has not progressed significantly through Indonesia’s democratic transition.

Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro

Azyurmardi Azra

Political culture is certainly an aspect of political reform that has not progressed significantly through Indonesia’s democratic transition and democracy in the past two decades. As a result, the post-Soeharto democracy is still marked by a fundamental weakness, which makes it a flawed democracy.

Some aspects of political culture that create order and meaning in the political process, such as behavior, trust and sentiment, are often mismatched with democracy. Political culture, which is also linked to assumptions and management that shape political behavior in a political system, is often not in keeping with democracy.

Indonesia may be proud of its democratic achievement through the general elections that have been held regularly since 1999. Indonesia is full of elections, such as the legislative elections (held nearly five times, in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019). Then, there is the direct presidential election (2004, 2009, 2014 and soon, in 2019). Besides which are the regional elections since 2005, and there will be regional elections in 171 regions (provinces and regencies/cities) in June 2018.

However, the elections tend to be routine. Beyond the routine has been growing political tension. Its cause is not purely politics, but also concerns the use and abuse of sectarian issues during political contests. In fact, the sectarian issues of tribal affiliation, religion, race and inter-groups (SARA), are not only divisive, but also reduce the quality of a democracy.

Democratic quality does not only relate to regular elections. There are other factors that would help to improve the quality of a democracy; primarily a political culture that is compatible with and that enhances democracy.

Antonio Gramsci argued (1971, 1985) about political culture as a deep culture, ideologically and mentally. However, non-conducive political culture can also hamper the growth of quality democracy. Thus, awareness among each level of society involved in the political process is necessary for the development of a democratic political culture.

How far has the democratic political culture in Indonesia developed? At the grassroots level, there has been growth that is contradictory to a democratic political culture. On the one hand, voters enthusiastically exercise their voting rights: the average voter participation has been 70 percent from one election to another since 1999. The relatively high electoral participation indicates growth in democratic political culture.

This indicator shows that most people are getting used to the democratic political process to express their political aspirations peacefully. The various elections in Indonesia have generally taken place safely and peacefully. If there has been violence, it has usually been sporadic, only occurring in particular places.

Such a phenomenon is different from the early years of the democratic transition, at the end of the 1990s and in the early 2000s. During this time, the expression of democracy was often expressed noisily by the grassroots through a kind of democracy often called demo-crazy. It often resorted to the power of the mob, or mobocracy.

Several academic studies concluded that the voters’ political culture changed simultaneously with the improving political condition. Political stability and security made it possible for economic growth and improved social welfare.

Nevertheless, on the other hand, the voters’ political culture is often contaminated by “money politics”. Several elections have been marked by the use of money politics, often disguised in terms such as “assistance” for their constituents, namely social assistance for organizations or groups or to repair roads or houses of worship. Candidates also distributed the money envelopes to voters as “transportation money”.

Such actions, which appear to have become ingrained in the culture, show that changes in political culture did not occur within the political elite or state institutions such as legislative councils. This kind of political culture is nothing but the ramification of non-democratic politics, like authoritarianism.

In the latest context, we can see that oligarchy survived in the political parties and other political institutions, such as the legislative councils. In political parties, oligarchy takes shape when the parties’ policies and decisions are made only by a very few elites. Such condition is called a politocracy: political power in the hands of the few.

Political oligarchy grows stronger when a political party is personified, when the party is strongly associated with a figure, be it the party’s founder or another powerful figure, such as the treasurer or someone who was in public office before becoming the party chairperson.

Politocracy is the color of Indonesian politics, and which makes Indonesia’s democracy a flawed democracy. This phenomenon is also seen during the nomination of candidates for the 2018 regional elections and in the selection of the House speaker. Political powers outside the oligarchy – not to mention the grassroots voters – were not heard at all.

If we want to see Indonesia improve the quality of its democracy, the political culture needs some reform. What steps can be taken to grow a democratic political culture?

First, the political elite in parties and other political institutions needs to conduct re-democratization. This is not an easy challenge. Yet, the process can start by revitalizing dialog and deliberation among the political elite, either internally or externally with other political forces.

Afterward, public dialog that involves all political and democratic stakeholders is needed. Such dialog is vital to restoring democracy to its true nature: political sovereignty in the hands of the people for the interests of the people.

AZYUMARDI AZRA

Professor, Culture and Humanities School, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University