Indonesia

Abstract

The post-authoritarian party system in Indonesia is dominated by political parties similar to the classical cadre party. These parties are heavily populated by elements of the ancien régime, who controlled the democratic transformation from above and were thus able to keep their influential positions within extensive patron–client networks. They face electoral competition from parties campaigning on programmatic appeals, which were established by actors opposing the regime. The most notable example of these parties is the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which is based on a mass party membership and characterized by a strong party central office. However, despite the similarities to party systems in early democratic Europe, the case of Indonesia should not be viewed as evidence of political parties following the same path of organizational development as their counterparts in Western Europe. Rather, as will be shown, the recent rise of populist politicians might force the established parties to rethink their electoral strategies.