Complacent Democrats

The Political Preferences of Gen Z Indonesians

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6434945
AutoresBurhanuddin Muhtadi (0000-0002-6043-6856, Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta), Eve Warburton (0000-0001-7922-2404, Australian National University, autor correspondente), Liam Gammon (Australian National University)
Ano2025
Volume25
Fascículo2
Páginas259-286
Data de publicação2025-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of East Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1598-2408 • E-ISSN: 2234-6643
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/jea.2025.10011
OpenAlexW4414847344
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas34

Indonesia’s population skews young, so political analysts are increasingly concerned with what the “youth vote” looks like, and what generational change will bring to Indonesia’s democracy. On the one hand, analysts have historically focused on the liberal political activism of more educated cohorts of young people, and especially those in urban areas. On the other, and most recently, young Indonesians overwhelmingly voted for Prabowo Subianto in the 2024 presidential elections, suggesting this cohort to be either unaware of, or unperturbed by, his authoritarian history. This paper examines how young Indonesians perceive their country’s democratic trajectory. We analyze two decades of nationally representative survey data, and examine the democratic preferences of Indonesian voters whose political socialization took place entirely in the post-authoritarian era (1998–). The results suggest both life-cycle and intriguing cohort effects: on average, Indonesians become more positive towards their democracy as they age; but we also find that Indonesia’s Gen Zs are more satisfied with democracy than other generational cohorts—despite a precipitous decline in the quality of Indonesian democracy over the past decade. We argue, therefore, that while all Indonesians show high levels of satisfaction with their weakening democracy, young Indonesians, more than other generations, can be understood as ‘complacent democrats

Asian Studies and History · Islamic Finance and Communication