After years of hacking, pruning and trimming, Suharto had the formal political system just as he ... more After years of hacking, pruning and trimming, Suharto had the formal political system just as he wanted it. Every five years the government party Golkar would win the general elections with an absolute majority. Every five years Suharto's tenure was dutifully renewed by the People's Consultative Assembly. Not once did the good President have to endure the indignity of debating a rival candidate.
Since seizing power more than three decades ago, Suharto's military-backed regime has stifled... more Since seizing power more than three decades ago, Suharto's military-backed regime has stifled every attempt to organise opposition. Now his 'New Order' government, and the country as a whole, is reaping the results. Angry crowds are out in the streets burning and looting because there are simply no viable political organisations for people to turn to in order to vent their intense frustrations about the collapsing economy. In Thailand and South Korea, the economic crisis saw old governments voted out and new reformist governments elected. This has been impossible in Indonesia because Suharto has built a political system in which power is concentrated almost completely in his own hands.
Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia charts the origins and development of organicist ideologies in I... more Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia charts the origins and development of organicist ideologies in Indonesia from the early 20th century to the present. In doing so, it provides a background to the theories and ideology that informed organicist thought, traces key themes in Indonesian history, examines the Soeharto regime and his ‘New Order’ in detail, and looks at contemporary Indonesia to question the possibility of past ideologies making a resurgence in the country. Beginning with an exploration of the origins of the theory of the organic state in Europe, this book explores how this influenced many young Indonesian scholars and ‘secular’ nationalists. It also looks in detail at the case of Japan, and identifies the parallels between the process by which Japanese and Indonesian nationalist scholars drew on European romantic organicist ideas to forge ‘anti-Western’ national identities and ideologies. The book then turns to Indonesia’s tumultuous history from the revolution to 1965, the rise of Soeharto, and how his regime used organicist ideology, together with law and terror, to shape the political landscape consolidate control. In turn, it shows how the social and economic changes wrought by the government’s policies, such as the rise of a cosmopolitan middle class and a rapidly growing urban proletariat led to the failure of the corporatist political infrastructure and the eventual collapse of the New Order in 1998. Finally, the epilogue surveys the post Soeharto years to 2014, and how growing disquiet about the inability of the government to contain religious intolerance, violence and corruption, has led to an increased readiness to re-embrace not only more authoritarian styles of rule but also ideological formulas from the past. This book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Southeast Asia, politics and political theory, as well as by those interested in authoritarian regimes, democracy and human rights
Few would have predicted that two of the most popular public figures in Indonesia in 1996 would b... more Few would have predicted that two of the most popular public figures in Indonesia in 1996 would be senior judges. Judges have typically been seen as gormless and corrupt functionaries who do the government’s bidding in the government’s courts. Yet in May 1995 Administrative Court judge Benyamin Mangkoedilaga became an instant celebrity after his historic ruling that President Soeharto’s powerful Information Minister had acted beyond his powers when he banned the popular weekly magazine Tempo a year earlier. Benyamin’s courtroom in Jakarta erupted in jubilation at the decision, and the judge was for months in hot demand for appearances and interviews. More recently, the spotlight has turned to Adi Andojo Soetjipto, the Supreme Court judge whose bold denunciations of high level judicial corruption have severely embarrassed Indonesia’s top legal authorities. An unprecedented move by the Chair of the Supreme Court to dismiss Adi Andojo in June 1996 only increased the level of public admiration, if not adulation, for the ‘honest judge’ who continues to speak out against his colleagues with impunity. Between them, Benyamin Mangkoedilaga and Adi Andojo have been responsible for reviving hopes among the urban middle classes that the judiciary may one day take their place, implied in the constitution, as an independent power within the state.
... 'Old Established Forces' of the West. Once indigenism had become establishe... more ... 'Old Established Forces' of the West. Once indigenism had become established as a dominant discourse3 most political ... Both Sukarno and the army were only too keen to adapt and harness particular narratives of 'indigeneity'-to suit their political purposes.4 ...
After years of hacking, pruning and trimming, Suharto had the formal political system just as he ... more After years of hacking, pruning and trimming, Suharto had the formal political system just as he wanted it. Every five years the government party Golkar would win the general elections with an absolute majority. Every five years Suharto's tenure was dutifully renewed by the People's Consultative Assembly. Not once did the good President have to endure the indignity of debating a rival candidate.
Since seizing power more than three decades ago, Suharto's military-backed regime has stifled... more Since seizing power more than three decades ago, Suharto's military-backed regime has stifled every attempt to organise opposition. Now his 'New Order' government, and the country as a whole, is reaping the results. Angry crowds are out in the streets burning and looting because there are simply no viable political organisations for people to turn to in order to vent their intense frustrations about the collapsing economy. In Thailand and South Korea, the economic crisis saw old governments voted out and new reformist governments elected. This has been impossible in Indonesia because Suharto has built a political system in which power is concentrated almost completely in his own hands.
Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia charts the origins and development of organicist ideologies in I... more Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia charts the origins and development of organicist ideologies in Indonesia from the early 20th century to the present. In doing so, it provides a background to the theories and ideology that informed organicist thought, traces key themes in Indonesian history, examines the Soeharto regime and his ‘New Order’ in detail, and looks at contemporary Indonesia to question the possibility of past ideologies making a resurgence in the country. Beginning with an exploration of the origins of the theory of the organic state in Europe, this book explores how this influenced many young Indonesian scholars and ‘secular’ nationalists. It also looks in detail at the case of Japan, and identifies the parallels between the process by which Japanese and Indonesian nationalist scholars drew on European romantic organicist ideas to forge ‘anti-Western’ national identities and ideologies. The book then turns to Indonesia’s tumultuous history from the revolution to 1965, the rise of Soeharto, and how his regime used organicist ideology, together with law and terror, to shape the political landscape consolidate control. In turn, it shows how the social and economic changes wrought by the government’s policies, such as the rise of a cosmopolitan middle class and a rapidly growing urban proletariat led to the failure of the corporatist political infrastructure and the eventual collapse of the New Order in 1998. Finally, the epilogue surveys the post Soeharto years to 2014, and how growing disquiet about the inability of the government to contain religious intolerance, violence and corruption, has led to an increased readiness to re-embrace not only more authoritarian styles of rule but also ideological formulas from the past. This book will be welcomed by students and scholars of Southeast Asia, politics and political theory, as well as by those interested in authoritarian regimes, democracy and human rights
Few would have predicted that two of the most popular public figures in Indonesia in 1996 would b... more Few would have predicted that two of the most popular public figures in Indonesia in 1996 would be senior judges. Judges have typically been seen as gormless and corrupt functionaries who do the government’s bidding in the government’s courts. Yet in May 1995 Administrative Court judge Benyamin Mangkoedilaga became an instant celebrity after his historic ruling that President Soeharto’s powerful Information Minister had acted beyond his powers when he banned the popular weekly magazine Tempo a year earlier. Benyamin’s courtroom in Jakarta erupted in jubilation at the decision, and the judge was for months in hot demand for appearances and interviews. More recently, the spotlight has turned to Adi Andojo Soetjipto, the Supreme Court judge whose bold denunciations of high level judicial corruption have severely embarrassed Indonesia’s top legal authorities. An unprecedented move by the Chair of the Supreme Court to dismiss Adi Andojo in June 1996 only increased the level of public admiration, if not adulation, for the ‘honest judge’ who continues to speak out against his colleagues with impunity. Between them, Benyamin Mangkoedilaga and Adi Andojo have been responsible for reviving hopes among the urban middle classes that the judiciary may one day take their place, implied in the constitution, as an independent power within the state.
... 'Old Established Forces' of the West. Once indigenism had become establishe... more ... 'Old Established Forces' of the West. Once indigenism had become established as a dominant discourse3 most political ... Both Sukarno and the army were only too keen to adapt and harness particular narratives of 'indigeneity'-to suit their political purposes.4 ...
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Papers by David M Bourchier