The political landscape of Indonesia has been transformed almost beyond recognition within the past decades. During the period under a highly centralized authoritarian regime, the power was concentrated in the hands of Suharto who held the office of president over thirty years, there was no efficient segregation of powers, political freedoms were exceedingly limited, military had enormous unrestricted powers to interfere in political and other aspects of Indonesian life. The collapse of Suharto’s New Order regime in 1998 marked a new commencement for Indonesia as a nation state.
In the reform era, Indonesia has made significant endeavors towards democracy. Its democratization featured various imperative tasks. Legislatures and courts become much more independent from the central governments. Indonesia has staged the liberalization and overhaul of the political system which includes the establishment of free and fair elections since 1956, rotations of government, a multiparty system, freedom of the press. Indonesians now enjoy comprehensive political freedoms. Meanwhile, uncounted civil society organizations and other pressure groups attempt to take up the responsibility as a watchdog monitoring the elected governments on the national and local level (Nyman 2006). Another essential change is the implementation of a decentralization policy which emphasizes regional autonomy within the country as an indispensable part of developing a more democratic political system.
The majority of reviews regarding Indonesia’s democratic transition have so far been positive. It is extensively acknowledged that for the time being Indonesia does not seem to be in danger of falling back into authoritarian structures. Numerous researchers (Rieffel 2...
... middle of paper ...
...derately nationalist platforms control over half of the popular vote. On the other hand, Islamic parties saw a sharp decline in public support from approximately 40percent in 2004 to less than one quarter this year.
Re-election of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is another stabilizing factor in the Indonesian political outlook. Being the president since 2004, Yodhoyono manifested his tremendous determination to eliminate public corruption by enforcing a countrywide anti-corruption program. Yodhoyono allowed his close relative who is the father of his daughter-in-law be sentenced to four years in jail in the corruption court boosted his credibility and paved the ground for a landslide victory. In 2009, he was elected second times by the voters to the presidency of Indonesia, allowing him to continue his work in anti-corruption campaigns and public sector reforms.
In the book Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism written by Benedict Anderson the effects colonization had on Indonesia are reviewed. Decolonization of countries was induced by revolutions and the spread of nationalism after the 18th century. Independence was followed by state building based on the origin, power and function of nationalism felt in Indonesia (Anderson). Liberalism and Mar...
Indonesia thrives on gang activity and foolish men that don’t know the true definition of gangster. Also, the Indonesian gangsters or preman seem to be in constant denial of what happened decades ago. This denial is mostly because of the fact that no one really questioned them of their wrongdoings until now. When they sit and actually think about what happened and the endless families that they separated because of alleged communism, most realize what they did was wrong. Some on the other hand will not realize this because they were raised in that way of thinking and their minds are not as malleable anymore.
With an understanding of the theoretical links between economic structures, relations of production, and political systems that protect economic structures in society this case study examines media as a contributor to democracy in Australia as well as a business with economic objectives. This section will provide a short explanation of Fairfax media history and position in 2012 prior to explaining Gina Rinehart’s role in the company. The print sector in Australia has historically exhibited relatively high levels of concentration, dominated by News Corp Australia, Fairfax and APN. The Australian print news media have experienced a long-term trend of a decrease in titles and owners. According to Geoffrey Craig, ‘in 1923 there were as many as
These conditions were clearly morally deplorable, and the coup caused a change from aristocrats to an Indonesian business class, seen as a victory over communism at the climax of the Cold War. Seeing as similar killings happened right after Indonesia’s, one would think that the generals did not learn their lesson on moral validity. The inevitability of people being killed waters down the big question of moral validities by the minute. In the end, it all comes down to the point of view; depending on the point of view, any side’s moral values could be seen
A bag of nutmeg back in the colonization era could buy you a house in downtown London. Nutmeg was a very well known and expensive kind of spice back then in Indonesia, voyagers from other countries would sail across the world to get a bag of it (Legacy of the Dutch). The price of nutmeg was approximately 119 rupees, or in Indonesian, rupiah, it would be 24,000 rupiah (the Dutch east India company and economy of Bengal). Nutmeg was a spice that was very valuable to the Dutch back then and also to Indonesia. Spices were very valuable in the colonization era back then, one of the most valuable spices were nutmeg, nutmeg is a spice that was used as sickness remedies for certain kinds of sicknesses such as colds and fevers. Nutmeg was believed to be used for curing headaches, fever, and even bad breath, nutmeg could be used for cooking and was believed to be able to cure plagues, during those times, nutmeg was considered very expensive, one bag of nutmeg was enough to provide someone with enough
Harold A. Crouch. 1985. Economic change social structure and political systems in Southeast Asia: Philippine development compared with the other Asian countries. Institute of southeast Asian studies
Case, W.. (2001). Malaysia’s general elections in 1999: A consolidated and high quality semi-democracy. Asian Studies Review. Vol. 25. Number 1.
Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they deem appropriate and can denounce them once they no longer appease them. In this paper, the benefits of democracy are outlined, compared to autocratic communism, and finally the flaws of democracy are illustrated.
Singapore gained its independence in 1965.It has been growing gradually and increasingly in the economy. I is now included among the world’s most competitive economies. This was made possible by being an public business globally, with a good business environment and a substantial political market, making it a popular country to invest in globally.
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
In a democracy, free and fair elections which are held after around half a decade, guarantee social rights and equality. These elections ensure that every citizen has the right to vote, and hence they create social stability among the society. Each and every individual casting his vote in the elections reduces discrimination among the people. Citizens are not judged on the basis of religion, race, color, social status and so on. In this way, the dignity of nationals is not damaged and people can live in peace. In addition to voting rights, a democracy also assures access to other services like security, education, property rights, and healthcare facilities. These human rights maintain social equity and involv...
The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, or Laos, is a politically stable and peaceful landlocked country in Southeast Asia, centrally located in the Mekong sub-region. The country occupies about 236,800 square kilometers and almost half the length of the Mekong River that flows through it. It is bordered by China to the north, Myanmar and Thailand to the west, Cambodia to the south and Vietnam to the east. The country has a tropical monsoon climate with a rainy season from May to October. Temperatures range from highs of 40°C along the Mekong River in March and April to lows of 5°C in the high mountains in January. (The World Fact Book) Most of Laos is covered by mountains and dense forests and its population density is among the lowest in Asia. Laos has a population of about 5.6 million, comprising 47 ethnic groups.
The Philippine Revolution was a military conflict between the Filipinos and Spanish colonial regime that started in the year 1896. The Filipinos were growing exhausted of the Spaniards’ rule over them. A charismatic leader, Andrès Bonifacio, formed a ghost propaganda movement, The Katipunan, to battle the Spaniards for independence. The Katipunan leaders and everyone associated with the revolution all knew the risks of getting captured: dying and risking the chance at freedom. War and bloodshed was the only decision for freedom; it was necessary to gain independence from Spain. The Filipino people joined as a whole to overthrow their Spanish dictators. It was a long fought war that seemed to last an eternity but on Dec. 15, 1897, the pact of Biak-na-Bato was declared. Though it wasn’t the perfect deal for each side, the pact brought a temporary end to the Philippine Revolution. The Philippine Revolution was a frightening, but necessary action by the Filipinos to pave way to their independence from Spain.
Political decentralization supports transparency for one of its aims is to better inform it people on the decision process that is taking place in the government. By this, the citizens of that state or that region are given the chance to participate more and can further influence the decision making of their own government. The citizens’ local interests are better represented because its representatives cannot hide from them and by this many will be more enthusiastic about participating and be more interested in the government and this in return will make the citizens complain less and accept rules or policies that will be passed or implemented by their government. This will create less chaos and opposition from the citizens and will result to faster implementation of rules and many will acknowledge the passed rule or policy at a much quicker pace since they were a part in all of the process.
For many years, Philippine politics have been viewed as a political disappointment as a result of graft, corruption, political dynasties, political killings and election anomalies. On the other hand, politicians are not by any stretch of the imagination to render public services but to learn fast and gain a self-advantage. This is exactly why it is particularly worth making all the required capital interests in looking for an elective position that is why governmental issues in the Philippine is an exceptionally productive speculation. This essay will explain why Philippine politics today is characterized by anomalies and controversies that result to high percentage