The People's Democracy

According to democracy surveys at the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Yogyakarta, democratisation in Indonesia has made great advances in respect of freedom, elections and decentralisation after years of authoritarian rule. But while the number of politically influential participants has increased, many public resources have been privatised, state capacity has decreased, and democracy is dominated by powerful elites within politics, administration and business.

“Ordinary people come into politics from above, not integrated from below. The social and economic interests of the people are very poorly represented by the political parties and interest organisations. It is therefore difficult to foster trust in public governance, fight corruption and develop welfare measures that also support economic development. This is what characterises successful development processes elsewhere,” says Professor Olle Törnquist at the University of Oslo (UiO).

TRADITIONAL VALUES AND MODERN RULES

Professors Olle Törnquist and Kristian Stokke at UiO manage the two NOMA and NUFU projects on the Norwegian side. The NOMA Master’s students have carried out research on media, gender issues and democracy in local government in Indonesia. The NUFU programme provides funding for five PhD students, who conduct research on topics such as the representation of women, the role of the media and the financing of political parties.

Master’s student Hengky Gogoba has conducted a case study on the Head of Sorong Selatan Regency, Otto Ihalauw. What is interesting about Ihalauw’s politics is that he won the election by combining traditional politics with welfare programmes, often in cooperation with local NGOs, which gives him more scope.

According to Gogoba, Ihalauw’s government also delegates responsibilities to representatives of ethnic groups and local communities at grassroots level.

“Political participants who want to gain power actually base their politics on two different areas, the modern state and the traditional society. They have to combine traditional values and modern rules to obtain and defend their power,” Gogoba states.

PROGRESSIVE WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS

Klaten is a regency in Central Java and has a history of progressive women’s movements. The Indonesian Women’s Congress was held in this small town in 1950. At that time women were critical and free to express their thoughts, they attended vocational schools and were educated in politics. Now these movements have disappeared.

Debbie Prabawati, a NOMA Master’s student, did her research on the politics of representing women in Klaten in 2010. She interviewed 20 women from two different groups – those who have had experience in the empowerment of women, and those who did not receive any support.

“Women’s issues are not merely about easier access to women’s health services. They also need good and accessible education for their children, low cost healthcare for their family and other public facilities,” Prabawati says.

MISSING LINK

UGM got involved in the NOMA programme after a study on democracy conducted by UiO in cooperation with DEMOS, an Indonesian NGO. The project was launched in 2002 as a collaboration between the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Indonesia and the Indonesian government. Meanwhile UiO also wanted to cooperate with UGM because it is the biggest and best public university in Indonesia, and also because many of the academics were involved in the democracy movements.

“For political reasons it was for many years necessary to conduct most of the studies of democratisation outside the universities, in cooperation with journalists and civil society activists. But we wanted to return to the university because that is where the studies can be both improved and turned into a resource for society as a whole,” says Professor Olle Törnquist.

Supported by UiO, DEMOS carried out national surveys on human rights and democracy in the 33 provinces of Indonesia. The studies revealed that the activist and academic worlds are very different in terms of the experience and tradition of democracy.

Willy Purna Samadhi, a NOMA Master’s student, conducts research on data collected by DEMOS and will continue the surveys at UGM. His thesis closely examines the characteristics of pro-democracy activists in Indonesia.

“One important finding is that there is a missing link between pro-democracy activists and elite politics. It means that activists at grassroots level are not connected with political activity at a formal level,” Samadhi states.

ROOTED IN THE PEOPLE

While the investigative journalists and civil society activists with a background in the student movement have been competent in collecting unique data, they were not skilled enough to analyse them in a theoretical and comparative perspective and then write the conclusions.

Stokke and Törnquist initiated the projects because they wanted students to be able to gain more education in these fields and to strengthen and institutionalise Indonesian-based education and research on democracy.

“We also thought that these ventures would benefit from Scandinavian knowledge about other efforts at democratisation, both historically in Scandinavia and elsewhere such as in Brazil, South Africa or India. At the same time Scandinavian scholars and students would benefit from access to the facts and to the insights of our Indonesian colleagues,” Törnquist says.

Dean of the Faculty of Social and Political Science at UGM, Professor Pratikno, thinks the model of Scandinavian countries is interesting because of the history of grassroots democracy. It could be applied in heterogenic Indonesia and can benefit the welfare of the people, he believes.

“The NOMA and NUFU programmes provide an academic foundation along with inspiration for the “Yes, We Can” policy of the current government. We can develop democracy that is rooted in the people and not in the political elite,” Pratikno says.

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