Bestuurskunde: Journal of Governmental Studies

Reforms of Political Finance: Strengthening Democracy by Reducing the Impact of High-Cost Politics

Rianda Dirkareshza; Anni Alvionita Simanjuntak; Gilang Abi Zaifa — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0100

This study has two objectives: First, to examine high-cost politics in Indonesian elections; Second, to propose measures to strengthen the Ministry of Home Affairs’ authority in political finance supervision and enhance regulations to promote electoral transparency, using the recent Indonesian elections as a case study. Indonesia’s political process is characterized by high-cost politics, where candidates often face pressure to raise substantial funds to finance their election campaigns. Consequently, elections, meant to serve as a democratic platform for all Indonesians, frequently become subject to abuse by individuals seeking to attain power. The primary goal of this study is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the high-cost politics in Indonesian elections and its impacts on democratic integrity. The study utilized a normative juridical methodology, incorporating statutory and conceptual approaches. The findings indicated that transactional and money politics, along with high-cost politics in Indonesia’s elections, pose a serious threat to democracy. The Ministry of Home Affairs and the General Election Supervisory Agency must strengthen their legal instruments to monitor political party finances. Furthermore, political actors must be encouraged to reduce high-cost politics.

Money Politics in a Democratic Political System: A Case study of South Korea and European Countries

Fauzan Hidayat — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0100

The issue of money politics in Indonesia has severely undermined democratic integrity, affecting equality in political participation, increasing the risk of corruption, creating disparities in political access, influencing public policy-making, and damaging public perceptions of the political system’s credibility. This study aimed to explore how other countries address the challenges of money politics and offered concrete solutions to strengthen democratic integrity. Using a comparative approach, the study examined money politics policies and practices, as well as assessed the effectiveness of anti-corruption and transparency measures in South Korea and Europe. The findings revealed that strict regulations on campaign financing and oversight by independent bodies have effectively mitigated money politics practices in these countries. Consequently, Indonesia is encouraged to adopt a similar approach by establishing an independent oversight body and fostering active public participation to address the challenges of money politics and high political costs, promote equitable political participation, and strengthen democratic integrity.

The High Cost of Politics in Indonesia: An Exploration of Multi-perspectives from Academics, Students, Executive Officials, and Legislative Candidates

I Made Dwi Hita Darmawan — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0100

The issue of high electoral political costs in Indonesia has been a serious concern since the 1998 reforms. This study aims to explore the factors that contribute to the high political costs in Indonesia’s democratic electoral system. The research question posed is: “What are the factors that lead to high political costs in Indonesia’s democratic electoral system?” The study employs a qualitative method with an in-depth interview approach. The informants for this study included academics, students, executive officials, and legislative candidates, selected to explore perspectives from various levels of society and the state. The selection of these informants was based on their diverse backgrounds, which were considered capable of providing comprehensive views on this issue. The findings reveal that the high cost of politics is caused by several factors, including an unusual electoral system, a paradigm shift in political parties, the prioritization of popularity over competence, campaign finance sponsorship, payback politics, and the phenomenon of “dawn raids.” The conclusion of this study indicates that the high cost of politics is a complex problem that requires a cross-sectoral approach to find a solution. The implication of this study is the importance of a deeper analysis of the mechanisms of political financing and their impact on democracy in Indonesia. This study makes an important contribution to understanding and addressing the problem of electoral political costs in Indonesia and emphasizes the need for cross-sectoral cooperation to achieve sustainable solutions.

The Role of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) in Preventing and Suppressing the Practice of Money Politics

Sherwin Mikhael Soantahon — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0100

This study aimed to analyze the constrained role of the State Civil Apparatus (ASN) in suppressing the practice of money politics which contributes to high-cost elections during general elections. ASN's political activities are heavily restricted, limiting its ability to actively and directly engage in the electoral process. However, statutory provisions also mandate that ASN serve as both the implementer of public policy—an inherently political product—and as a unifying force for the nation. In its role as a unifier, ASN must actively contribute to ensuring that elections are conducted fairly and appropriately for the future of the nation. The object of this study was to examine the limited authority and role of ASN in suppressing the practice of money politics. The study employed a qualitative descriptive analysis to explore the issue from the ASN's perspective, focusing on the potential contributions of its authority and role in enhancing the quality of elections. The findings indicated that ASN can leverage its authority and role both individually and institutionally to suppress money politics practices. Individually, ASN members can contribute through socialization, advocacy, political education, information dissemination, and anti-money politics campaigns. Institutionally, contributions can be made by strengthening regulatory and policy frameworks, enhancing the integrity and capabilities of ASN personnel, conducting studies, analyses, and discussions to improve electoral process quality, and enforcing strict sanctions against perpetrators of money politics.

Trade-off Anak Adat Status as a High-cost of Political Transaction in Papua Local Elections

Rosita Dewi, Bondan Widyatmoko — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0100

Currently, the political transaction through trade-off anak adat (customary child) status is wider applied in Papua local election. Benefiting from the direct elections, the elites competed for political power in the regions by mobilizing ethno-religious sentiments and utilizing money-politics. The voters, in return, behave as clients as they seek to gain material benefits from their preferred candidates in exchange for political loyalty. This condition caused the high-cost politics during the local election. Based on this problem, this paper attempts to analyze the hijacking of adat (customs) through trade-off anak adat status as a form of political transaction which impacted to high-cost politics. This study cultivates the theory of political transactions to analyze the political transaction in Papua local election especially in the gubernatorial election 2018 and election of DPRD (Regional Representative Council)’s member in 2019. This form of political transaction has caused the high-cost of local election in Papua, which is not only in the form of money, but also carried the social cultural high-cost impact. Of course, vote buying will make the candidates have to spend a lot of money. The trade-off of anak adat status from other than Papuan through buying and selling mechanism rather than using achievement and acknowledgement from the adat community would harm the Papuans. Moreover, this practice has brought detrimental destruction to the socio-cultural values of Papuan adat community. This study is qualitative research that use political approach to observe the local election processes in Papua. We used the criteria of credibility and confirmability to validate the data in our qualitative research.

Transparency of Fund Usage for the 2019 Legislative Elections in the Special Region of Yogyakarta

Sujatmiati, Erham Budi Wiranto — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0100

This research stems from the issue of lack of transparency in the use of government funds by political parties in the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY) during the 2019 Legislative Elections, particularly regarding campaign funds. This lack of transparency raises various issues, such as discrepancies in the reporting of fund usage, insufficient alignment in transparency, and the absence of strict sanctions from the election organizers. These conditions trigger suspicion, apathetic attitudes, and weak coordinated efforts, which potentially undermine the principles of justice in democracy. Data were collected through interviews, documentation, and analyzed descriptively based on four transparency indicators: document availability, clarity of information, process openness, and regulatory framework. The research findings indicate discrepancies and misalignment in the transparency of campaign fund reporting in the 2019 Legislative Elections, as well as minimal sanctions from the election organizers. This results in increased suspicion, apathetic attitudes, and weak coordination, which threaten the principles of justice in democracy.