Toward The Deepening of Democracy in Indonesia: A Habermasian Assessment of The Prospects and Problems of The General Election in Indonesia

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-148-7_17How to use a DOI?

Keywords

General Election; Habermas; Indonesia; Problems; Prospects

Abstract

The present article evaluates the ideal democratic principles that are espoused by the Indonesian constitution vis-à-vis the actual practice of the general election. It addresses two questions: “Do the actual practices of the general election in Indonesia uphold the democratic principles espoused by the Indonesian constitution?” and “What democratic principles must be adhered to by the Indonesian government to deepen democracy in Indonesia?” The paper argues that the inclusion of the democratic general election in the constitution is a substantive contribution to the nation’s democratization since it provides the citizens with the opportunity to exercise their freedom and rights of suffrage. There is, however, the lack of implementation of rules and regulations to fully embody the vision of the constitution and the lack of political commitment on the part of the political elites to democratic principles and values. The deepening of democracy in Indonesia demands that the government, its citizens, and state institutions perceive the general election not merely as a means to gain political power but as a democratic way to exercise popular sovereignty. This includes shaping public discourse and reasoning about political programs and policies and making rational decisions about new leadership. The conduct of the democratic general election should be based on several key principles. These include sovereignty as a procedural foundation, ensuring individual legal protection, upholding administrative legality, and maintaining a clear separation between the state and society.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Costantinus Fatlolon
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/12/06
TI  - Toward The Deepening of Democracy in Indonesia: A Habermasian Assessment of The Prospects and Problems of The General Election in Indonesia
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference for Democracy and National Resilience (ICDNR 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 187
EP  - 206
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-148-7_17
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-148-7_17
ID  - Fatlolon2023
ER  -