Emerging Local Politics in Indonesia

This book provides a richer understanding of democratic local politics in Indonesia after the implementation of local direct elections in 2005. Co-published with the University of Airlangga Press, it confronts the question as to why incumbent political leaders succeed and fail in their bid for re-election. By focusing on urban and rural districts in East Java, one of the most populated regions in Indonesia, the work unpacks the general trends of local Indonesian politics, drawing from an empirically sound and theoretically well-grounded case study. The author demonstrates that good policy performance does not guarantee the political survival of the incumbent, and reversibly, bad policy performance does not necessarily mean losing political power. It considers the core political strategies of populism, rivalry, and tangibility and cautions thatrather than helping liberal democracy to growthese strategies support patronage-driven democracy. Within this system, a small number of vital protectors and defenders control patronage, and, problematically, exert influential control over the country's electoral processes. Relevant to scholars and students in Indonesian studies, and within political science and Asian studies more broadly, this book follows a gripping and nuanced narrative that explains the relationship between policy choices, informal politics, voting behavior, and political survival in Indonesia.

Provides a nuanced narrative of the dynamics of local elections in both rural and urban districts in Indonesia Deals with the political logic of survival and failure of incumbents in re-election bids Critiques the relationship between policy choices, informal politics, and political survival in Indonesia

Autorentext

Wawan Sobari is Associate Professor in Creative Politics in the Department of Political Science at Universitas Brawijaya in Malang, Indonesia. Wawan gained his Ph.D. in Politics and Public Policy from Flinders University, Australia, in 2015. In addition to local politics, his research interests include creative politics and political entrepreneurship, governance, and democracy.

Inhalt
Chapter 1. Pilkada, Incumbency and their Political Conundrums.- Chapter 2. Context, Limitations, and the Fieldwork.- chapter 3. The Pilkada: History, Debates and Existing Regulations.- Chapter 4. The Incumbents' Landslide Victory.- Chapter 5. The Incumbents' Crushing Defeat.- Chapter 6. Women and the Political Survival of District Heads.- Chapter 7. Populism, Rivalry and Tangibility.- Chapter 8. Conclusion.