Coercing Loyalty: Coalitional Presidentialism and Party Politics in Jokowi's Indonesia

Scholars of coalitional presidentialism have focused on the question of how presidents in multi-party systems manage to establish stable governments. Some authors have argued that in the case of Indonesia, post-authoritarian presidents have prioritized inclusivist alliance building, with all parties...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary Southeast Asia 2016-08, Vol.38 (2), p.209-232
Main Author: MIETZNER, MARCUS
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Alliances
Autarchy
Authoritarianism
Building authorities
Cabinet
Cartels
Democracy
Heads of state
Impeachment
Indonesia
Intellectuals
Interventionism
Local elections
Loyalty
Management
Opposition parties
Parliaments
Patronage
Political alliances
Political aspects
Political leadership
Political opposition
Political parties
Political power
Politics
Presidential elections
Presidential systems
Presidents
Rewards
Suharto
Voters
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Summary:Scholars of coalitional presidentialism have focused on the question of how presidents in multi-party systems manage to establish stable governments. Some authors have argued that in the case of Indonesia, post-authoritarian presidents have prioritized inclusivist alliance building, with all parties offered cabinet seats and other rewards in exchange for loyalty. However, as this article demonstrates, President Joko Widodo has opted for a more coercive approach: reactivating power tools not used since the days of Suharto's autocracy, he intervened in the internal affairs of at least two opposition parties and eventually forced them to declare their support for his administration. This method, while designed to obstruct the anti-democratic agenda of the opposition, has in itself had detrimental effects on Indonesia's democratic quality.
ISSN:0129-797X
1793-284X
DOI:10.1355/cs38-2b