Less democracy, more centralism

The selection of Candidates by Golkar and PDIP in Indonesian subnational executive elections, 2005–2020

Bibliographic Data

ID6233869
AuthorsArya Budi (0000-0002-6917-5410, Universitas Gadjah Mada, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume28
Issue3
Pages236-255
Publication date2020-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0218-5377 • E-ISSN: 1750-7812
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02185377.2020.1774909
OpenAlexW3033432376
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited57

One of the largest democracies in the world, Indonesia holds elections from the national to the subnational levels. This process inexorably involves hundreds of candidate nominations, with most candidate selections being made by parties. This article investigates how Indonesian parties selected their candidates for subnational executive elections (Pilkada) between 2005 and 2020. Analyzing the formal procedures and practices through which two major Indonesian political parties, the Indonesian Democratic Party—Struggle (PDIP) and Functional Groups Party (Golkar), selected their candidates in subnational elections, this article finds that the process tends to be less democratic but more centralistic. It further argues that intra-party politics within these two parties generated distinct patterns in these parties’ candidate selection processes. This article concludes that there exists a paradox, in which parties select candidates through centralized processes while simultaneously demanding governmental decentralization

Centralized government · Decentralization · Democracy · Indonesian · Indonesian government · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Selection (genetic algorithm · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Indonesian Election Politics and Participation · Law · Public Administration · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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