An expert's eye on problems, prospects for domestic politics

Leadership and Culture in Indonesian Politics

By R. William Liddle

Allen and Unwin Pty Ltd., NSW, Australia.

314 pages

Rp 40,000

JAKARTA (JP): R. William Liddle is no stranger to students of Indonesian politics. He is one of several well-known foreign political scientists whose main research interest is the Indonesian political system. His research since the beginning of the 1960s attests to his wish to explore deeper "the secrecy of the uniqueness of Indonesian politics".

This is reflected in this collection of some of his many essays published in various journals and periodicals from 1984 to 1993. These collectively cover two central concerns of his research on Indonesia -- the longevity of the New Order and the factors that might shape political change in the future.

The book, consisting of 10 essays, is divided into two parts. Part one, a collection of four essays written during the middle to late 1980s, deals mainly with explanatory analyses of the regime's management in preserving its power. The first chapter, "Soeharto's Indonesia: Personal Rule and Political Institutions", for example, is a very clear analysis of the structuralization process of power politics which, on the one hand, eliminates and domesticates political oppositions, and on the other, increases and strengthens political legitimation of the regime.

Another significant political instrument for the maintenance of the regime's legitimacy is the call for popular participation in the government's policymaking process. In examining cases of conflict in rice and sugar policy ("The Politics of Shared Growth: Some Indonesian Cases"), Liddle writes that the decision process within the system is complex and actually involves some elements of participation by groups outside the government. He concludes that New Order stability is actually in part a product of outside-the-state participation.

It is obvious that the way Indonesian politics has developed in the New Order era has brought about "new political culture" in which its manner and characteristics differ markedly from its predecessor. The two other essays in the first part focus on this topic. The author recommends (particularly to students of comparative politics) that there is a need to rethink our conception of political culture and the role it plays in political life. "Political culture is less as a set of fixed, deeply held values and beliefs, uni-directionally determining behavior, and more as a loose assemblage of ideas, some of which are flexible and open to change and manipulation by politician actors."

The second part comprises six essays written during the first- half of the 1990s. Here, the author moves the focus from an explanation of the longevity of President Soeharto and the New Order to a concern with what lies ahead. A couple of reasons explain this shift. Although President Soeharto is getting older, he may well continue to dominate Indonesian politics into advanced old age. As such, one may worry about the possibility of increasing political tension not only in elite circles, but also at the community level that could lead to more complex problems in the development of Indonesian politics.

Second, based on the study of literature on the new "transition" approach of democratization in comparative politics, the author predicts political leadership will play a significant role in directing the process of democratization in Indonesia. This is also the explanatory argument that links the focus of the first part of the book to the second.

By arguing for the significant role of political leadership, it does not mean that only those in power have influence in the process of democratization. Most importantly, popular leaders might may significant democratic roles, at least in socializing democratic culture and values. Chapter five, "Improvising Political Cultural Change: Three Indonesian Cases," sets out to prove that argument.

Considering the New Order government's success in controlling and maintaining political order, the most interesting question is whether the post President Soeharto era is likely to usher in democracy. Part two of the book identifies problems that might arise in that coming era. This could include a "war" between the defenders and proponents of the regime's status quo and those democratizers of the country. The latter, Liddle writes, are actually growing in number but are still mainly composed of the "urban-intelligentsia". This seems to be what is happening now in the development of Indonesian politics.

Nevertheless, Liddle is optimistic in viewing the development of Indonesian politics. He argues that "the forms of democracy are already in place and need only be filled with democratic content... Democratization will require changes in the role of the army and the nature of the parties, but not in the constitution itself".

Readers of this work will also be satisfied by some other analyses of problems and issues in Indonesian politics, including East Timor, the dual function of the Armed Forces and its future, the succession issue, vulnerability of the Soeharto's aging New Order regime, the complex development of Indonesia's political Islam and challenges faced by the emergence of Indonesia's democratic forces.

Liddle's arguments are persuasive, and whether one agrees with them is perhaps not as important as having been guided through the facts and analysis. They articles remain as relevant today as when first written several years ago.

-- T.A. Legowo

The writer is a political researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.