Direct Elections, Patronage and the Failure of Party Cadre-ship: Dynastic Politics in Indonesia [pdf]

With Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo’s son and son-in-law winning the December 2020 mayoral elections in Solo, Central Java, and Medan, North Sumatra, respectively, observers are wary of yet another challenge to the country’s democratic backsliding: the persistence of dynastic politics.

Seeing its persistence and pervasiveness, some observers are wary of what dynastic politics would mean to Indonesia’s democracy going forward, especially whether kin-based political succession would hinder democratic governance and perpetuate patronage/clientelism already rampant in local-level politics.

This paper seeks to understand which factors explain the persistence of dynastic politics in Indonesia. Moreover, with the recent trend of oligarchic influence in the national politics, the paper also aims at illustrating how dynastic politics could create a congruence of interests between local and national elites which in turn will extend the oligarchic pull in the local level.

Suggested Citation: Simandjuntak, Deasy (2021), “Direct Elections, Patronage, and the Failure of Party Cadre-ship: Dynastic Politics in Indonesia”, Bangkok: Heinrich Böll Stiftung Southeast Asia Regional Office.

Permanent link: https://th.boell.org/en/2021/07/21/dynastic-politics-indonesia