Democratisation in Indonesia After the Fall of Suharto

Since 1998, which marked the end of the 32-year authoritarian regime under Suharto, there has been a dramatic change in the direction of electoral democracy in Indonesia. The Era Reformasi was accompanied by great hopes but failed to make a fundamental break with the past, and since 2001 the reform process has faltered. New and old elites used patronage networks and money politics for getting influential positions through elections. This book examines some of the issues affecting the democratisation process and the challenges facing Indonesia since 1998. The analyses refer to institutional changes in the political system (elections, political parties, the parliament, new laws and decentralisation), to the legacies of the New Order (the role of the military, the relationship between power and big business) and to regional conflicts (especially in Aceh). The analyses of civil society and the actions taken to deal with the events of 1965/66 demonstrate that the new freedoms in the sphere of public life are being used by academics and NGOs to try to bring about democratic changes.