Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots (original) (raw)

2016, Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs

Press. 472 pages. ISBN-13: 978-9814722049. Paperback, $34.00. Edward Aspinall and Mada Sukmajati (eds.). 2016. "Unity in diversity" "from Sabang to Merauke"-if the two slogans that represent Indonesia's heterogeneity and geographical reach have become clich es, forgive me for combining the two to describe the fascinating edited volume Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientism at the Grassroots by Edward Aspinall and Mada Sukmajati. The volume certainly comes very close to covering Indonesia's geographic expanse, although Eastern Indonesia gets short shrift as Sumatra and Java comprise the bulk of the cases, but the first slogan is certainly manifest in Electoral Dynamics. It is an exploration of two aspects of patronage in the Indonesian electoral system-the diversity of its implementation throughout the archipelago as well as its "unity," so to speak, in its persistence among victors and losers alike. Toward this end, several research teams examined 22 legislative elections in 2014 with an eye to studying patron-client ties. After a description of the volume's research goals and a discussion of the Indonesian party system, varieties of patronage and descriptions of mobilization networks, the case studies begin. Since the onset of democratization and the messiness that comes with it, Indonesian voters have many different parties to choose from (although among these parties there is little ideological diversity) and many opportunities for patronage windfalls at election time. "Success teams" are tasked with distributing patronage, and, as the book points out, voters are savvy enough to occasionally take the goods or benefit from broader patronage programs such as assistance to sports clubs and other community projects, or promises of development, without delivering a vote-in short, free riding. At the same time, authors argue that cultural norms of reciprocity or obligation may factor into a party's success as it is bolstered by kinship or ethnic relations, a common village heritage, or religious ties. Mostly absent from the analysis are connections to structural, institutional, or cultural approaches to the study of democracy and democratization. Francis Fukuyama receives a nod in the discussion of culture, but the examples are predominantly straightforward narratives of the campaigns and results. The volume, nevertheless, provides ample case studies for others to dissect, with an eye on these theoretical approaches. Lest one think that Indonesian politics is simply about delivering cash, goods or other benefits to (potential) constituents, the volume describes the strategies