Islamic Organisation and Electoral Politics: Nahdlatul Ulama and Islamic Mobilisation in an Indonesian Local Election

Luthfi Makhasin

doi:10.22146/pcd.29318

Islamic Organisation and Electoral Politics: Nahdlatul Ulama and Islamic Mobilisation in an Indonesian Local Election

https://doi.org/10.22146/pcd.29318

Luthfi Makhasin^(1*)

(1) Department of Political Science, Jenderal Soedirman University
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

This paper deals with the politics of patronage and piety in local elections by examining the role of and dilemma faced by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the largest Muslim organisation in Indonesia, in a local electoral competition. Focusing on the 2017 local election in Brebes, Central Java, this article confirms previous scholarly works' findings of widespread patronage distribution and the impact of rising religious conservatism on electoral competition. However, this paper shows that piety and patronage politics neither necessarily maintain oligarchic rule nor provoke intolerance and violence. The case of the electoral competition in Brebes reveals that Islamic organisations in Indonesia are not immune from electoral politics, and due to institutional weaknesses of most political parties in Indonesia, will likely remain important political players by mobilising support in elections at both the local and national level. In a broader context, Islamic mobilisation in local elections in Indonesia helps understand the emergence of pious democracy in democratic Muslim-majority countries.

Keywords

patronage; piety; local election; incumbent; Nahdlatul Ulama; Islamic mobilisation

Full Text:

PDF

References

Aspinall, E. (2013a). A Nation in Fragment: Patronage and Neoliberalism in Contemporary Indonesia. Critical Asian Studies, 45(1), 27–54.

Aspinall, E. (2013b). Popular Agency and Interests in Indonesia’s Democratic Transition and Consolidation. Indonesia, 96, 101–121.

Aspinall, E., Dettman, S., & Warburton, E. (2011). When Religion Trumps Ethnicity: A Regional Election Case Study from Indonesia. South East Asia Research, 19(1), 27–58.

Aspinall, E. and Fealy, G. (2003). Local Power and Politics in Indonesia: Decentralisation and Democratisation. Singapore: ISEAS.

Aspinall, E. and Sukmajati, M. (2016). Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage and Clientelism at the Grassroots. Singapore: NUS Press.

Baswedan, A.R. (2004). Political Islam in Indonesia: Present and Future Trajectory. Asian Survey, 44(5), 669–690.

Bayat, A. (2007). Making Islam Democratic: Social Movements and the PostIslamist Turn. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Buehler, M. (2007). Local Elite Reconfiguration in Post-New Order Indonesia: The 2005 Election of District Government Heads in South Sulawesi. Review of Indonesian and Malaysian Affairs, 41(1), 119–147.

Buehler, M., and Tan, P.J. (2007). Party-Candidate Relationship in Indonesian Local Politics: A Case Study of the 2005 Regional Elections in Gowa, South Sulawesi Province. Indonesia, 84, 41–69.

Bush, R. (2009). Nahdlatul Ulama and the Struggle for Power within Islam and Politics in Indonesia. Singapore: ISEAS.

Choi, N. (2004). Local Elections and Party Politics in Post-Reformasi Indonesia. Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Studies, 26(2), 280–301.

Choi, N. (2007). Elections, Parties and Elites in Indonesia’ s Local Politics. South East Asia Research, 15(3), 325–354.

Erb, M., & Sulistiyanto, P. (2009). Deepening Democracy in Indonesia? Direct Elections for Local Leaders (Pilkada). Singapore: ISEAS.

Fealy, G. (2009). Ijtihad Politik Ulama: Sejarah NU 1952–1967. Yogyakarta: LKiS.

Fealy, G., & Bush, R. (2014). The Political Decline of Traditional Ulama in Indonesia: The State, Umma and Nahdlatul Ulama. Asian Journal of Social Science, 42(5), 536–560.

Fealy, G., & White, S. (2008). Expressing Islam: Religious Life and Politics in Indonesia. Singapore: ISEAS.

Feillard, A. (2002). Indonesian Traditionalist Islam’s Troubled Experience with Democracy (1999–2001).

Archipel, 64, 117–144. Feillard, A. (2009). NU vis a vis Negara: Pencarian Isi, Bentuk dan Makna. Yogyakarta: LKiS.

Ford, M., & Pepinsky, T.B. (2013). Beyond Oligarchy? Critical Exchanges on Political Power and Material Inequality in Indonesia. Indonesia, 96, 1–9.

Geertz, C. (1960). The Javanese Kijaji: The Changing Role of a Cultural Broker. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 2(2), 228–249.

Hadiz, V.R. (2012). Political Economy and Islamic Politics: Insights from the Indonesian Case. New Political Economy, 17(2). 137–155.

---------------. (2017). The Indonesian Oligarchy’s Islamic Turn?. http://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/indonesianoligarchys-islamic-turn/ Hadiz, V.R., & Robison, R. (2013). The Political Economy of Oligarchy and the Reorganization of Power in Indonesia. Indonesia, 96, 35– 57.

Hadiz, V.R., & Teik, K.B. (2011). Approaching Islam and Politics from Political Economy: A Comparative Study of Indonesia and Malaysia. The Pacific Review, 24(4), 463–485.

Laode, I. (1996). Anatomi Konflik: NU, Elit Islam, dan Negara. Jakarta: Pustaka Sinar Harapan.

Liow, J.C. (2006). Piety and Politics: Islamism in Contemporary Malaysia. New York: Oxford University Press.

Jung, E. (2014). Islamic Organizations and Electoral Politics in Indonesia: The Case of Muhammadiyah. South East Asia Research, 22(1), 73– 86.

Liddle, R.W., & Mujani, S. (2007). Leadership, Party and Religion: Explaining Voting Behavior in Indonesia. Comparative Political Studies, 40(7), 832–857.

Machmudi, Y. (2011). The Decline of Ulama Authority in Indonesia: The Cases of Two Pesantrens in East Java (Pesantren Langitan Tuban and Pesantren Darul Ulum Jombang). In International Workshop on Muslim Religious Authority in Asia. Singapore: Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.

Ramage, D.E. (1995). Politics in Indonesia: Democracy, Islam and the Ideology of Tolerance. London and New York: Routledge.

Robison, R., & Hadiz, V.R. (2004). Reorganising Power in Indonesia: The Politics of Oligarchy in an Age of Markets. London: Curzon Routledge.

Sebastian, L.C. (2004). The Paradox of Indonesian Democracy. Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Studies, 26(2), 256–279.

Tan, P.J. (2006). Indonesia Seven Years After Soeharto: Party System Institutionalization in a New Democracy. Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Studies, 28(1), 88–114.

Tanuwidjaja, S. (2010). Political Islam and Islamic Parties in Indonesia: Critically Assessing the Evidence of Islam’s Political Decline. Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Studies, 32(1), 29–49.

Tomsa, D. (2012). Moderating Islamism in Indonesia: Tracing Patterns of Party Change in the Prosperous Justice Party. Political Research Quarterly, 65(3), 486–498.

Turmudi, E. (2007). Struggling for the Umma: Changing Leadership Roles of Kiai in Jombang, East Java. Canberra: ANU Press.

Ufen, A. (2008). From Aliran to Dealignment: Political Parties in PostSoeharto Indonesia. South East Asia Research, 16(1), 5–41.

Vel, J. (2005). Pilkada in East Sumba: An Old Rivalry in a New Democratic Setting. Indonesia, 80, 80–107. Winters, J.A. (2013). Oligarchy and Democracy in Indonesia. Indonesia, 96, 11–33.

Yavuz, M.H. (2003). Islamic Political Identity in Turkey. New York: Oxford University Press.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/pcd.29318

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 4024 |

Refbacks

There are currently no refbacks.

View My Stats

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Username
Password
Remember me