The Paradox of Incumbency: Patronage, Clientelism, and Incumbent Defeat in Village Chief Elections

Norin Mustika Rahadiri Abheseka

doi:10.22146/pcd.51740

The Paradox of Incumbency: Patronage, Clientelism, and Incumbent Defeat in Village Chief Elections

https://doi.org/10.22146/pcd.51740

Norin Mustika Rahadiri Abheseka^(1*)

(1) Universitas Gadjah Mada
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract

This article examines the practices of patronage and clientelism during village elections. Examining Mekarsari Village, Yogyakarta, this study finds that patronage strategies such as programmatic politics, vote buying, club goods, and individual gifts were used by all candidates during village elections owing to the lack of strong social bonds between candidates and voters. The incumbent with all advantages and access to material resources also used patronise and clientelism as strategy, but in fact, it cannot guarantee they win the election. This suggests that the societal relationships and practices of patronage and clientelism continue to affect voter’s preference. Applying sociological, psychological, and rational approaches to understanding voter behaviour especially in Java, the study found that, apart from the instrumental and social distance considerations, territorial representation also influenced voter’s preference at Village.

Keywords

village elections, patronage, clientelism, incumbents, voter behaviour.

Full Text:

PDF

References

Allen, N. W. (2015). Clientelism and the personal vote in Indonesia. Electoral Studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2014.10.005

Aspinall, E. (2013). A Nation In Fragments : Patronage and Neoliberalism in Contemporary Indonesia. Critical Asian Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2013.758820

Aspinall, E., & Berenschot, W. (2019). Democracy for Sale: Elections, Clientalism, and the State in Indonesia. In Cornell University Press (Vol. 52). United States of America: Cornell University Press.

Aspinall, E., & Rohman, N. (2017). Village head elections in Java: Money politics and brokerage in the remaking of Indonesia’s rural elite. Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022463416000461

Bartels, L. M. (2010). The Study of Electoral Behavior. In The Oxford Handbook of American Elections and Political Behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Prss.

Casey, L. (2012). The Role of Money and Incumbency in 2009-2010 State Elections. Retrieved from Followthemoney.org website: https://www.followthemoney.org/research/institute-reports/the-role-ofmoney-and-incumbency-in-2009-2010-state-elections

Chen, W. (2001). Politics By Other Means: Village Election in China. Journal of East Asian Studies, 1(Perspectives on Environmental Protection in Northeast Asia), 221–241. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/23417762

Cox, G. W., & Katz, J. N. (1996). Why Did the Incumbency Advantage in U.S. House Elections Grow? American Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111633

Eggers, A. C., & Spirling, A. (2014). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Incumbency: Theory and Evidence from British Elections. Working Paper.

Fionna, U. (2014). Vote Buying in Indonesia’s 2014 Election: The Other Side of The Coin. ISEAS Perspective, 35.

Fouirnaies, A., & Hall, A. B. (2014). The financial incumbency advantage: Causes and consequences. Journal of Politics. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381614000139

Gaffar, A. (1988). Javanese voters: A case study of election under a hegemonic party system.

Halili. (2009). Praktik Politik Uang Dalam Pemilihan Kepala Desa: Studi di Desa Pakandangan Barat Bluto Sumenep Madura. Jurnal Humaniora, 14, 99–112.

Jensen, P. S., & Justesen, M. K. (2014). Poverty and vote buying: Surveybased evidence from Africa. Electoral Studies. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2013.07.020

Kana, N. L. (2001). Strategi Pengelolaan Persaingan Politik Elit Desa di Wilayah Kecamatan Suruh: Kasus Pemilihan Kepala Desa. Jurnal Renai, 1. Kartodirdjo, S. (1992). Pesta Demokrasi di Pedesaan : Studi Kasus Pilkades di Jawa Tengah dan DIY. Yogyakarta: Aditya Media.

Krebs, T. B. (1998). The Determinants of Candidates’ Vote Share and the Advantages of Incumbency in City Council Elections. American Journal of Political Science, 42(3), 921. https://doi.org/10.2307/2991735

Kushner, J., Siegel, D., & Stanwick, H. (1997). Ontario Municipal Elections: Voting Trends and Determinants of Electoral Success in

a Canadian Province. Canadian Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008423900016000

Linden, L. (2004). Are Incumbents Really Advantaged? The Preference for Non-Incumbents in Indian National Elections.

M. Syahbudin Latif. (2000). Persaingan Calon Kepala Desa di Jawa. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.id/books?hl=id&lr=&id=psVuP

Ymj2I0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=pemilihan+kepala+desa&ots

=ARSY8u3JoB&sig=p1fhzswk-di-HzWVow2b-M5led8&redir_

esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

Mainwaring, S., & Torcal, M. (2006). Party System Institutionalization and Party System Theory After The Third Wave of Democratization. In Handbook of Party Politics (pp. 204–227). Sage Publications.

Mas’Udi, W., & Kurniawan, N. I. (2017). Programmatic politics and voter preferences: The 2017 election in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta. Contemporary Southeast Asia, 5. https://doi.org/10.1355/cs39-3c

Morris, T., & Pavett, C. M. (1992). Management Style and Productivity in Two Cultures. Journal of International Business Studies. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8490264

Pellegrini, E. K., & Scandura, T. A. (2008). Paternalistic leadership: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206308316063

Redding, S. G., Norman, A., & Schlander, A. (1994). The nature of individual attachment to the organization: A review of East Asian variations. In Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 4.

Riker, W. H., & Ordeshook, P. C. (1968). A Theory of the Calculus of Voting. American Political Science Review. https://doi.org/10.1017/S000305540011562X

Saiful Mujani, William R. Liddle, and K. A. (2012). Kuasa Rakyat Analisis Tentang Perilaku Memilih dalam Pemilihan Legislatif dan Presiden Indonesia Pasca Orde Baru. https://doi.org/10.13185/st2014.02206

Schumpeter, J. A. (2010). Capitalism, socialism and democracy. In Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203857090

Sevtyan, A., Sobari, W., & Mochtar, H. (2018). Perilaku Gumunan: Memperluas Kajian Perilaku Pemilih Jawa. POLITICO. https://doi.org/10.32528/politico.v18i2.1655

Sobari, W. (2016). Anut Grubyuk in the Voting Process: The Neglected Explanation of Javanese Voters (Preliminary Findings). Southeast Asian Studies. https://doi.org/10.20495/seas.5.2 Soekanto, S. (2013). Sosiologi Suatu Pengantar. Jakarta: PT. Raja Grafindo Hasada.

Sukmajati, M., & Aspinal, E. E. (2014). Politik Uang di Indonesia: Patronase dan Klientelism di Pemilu Legislatif 2014. In E. Aspinall & M. (eds) Sukmajati (Eds.), Polgov: Yogyakarta (1st ed.). Yogyakarta: Penerbit PolGov.

Tans, R. (2012). Mobilizing Resources, Building Coalitions: Local Power in Indonesia. Policy Studies. https://doi.org/10.21506/j.ponte.2016.10.28

Tjiptoherijanto, P., & Prijono, Y. M. (1983). Demokrasi di Pedesaan Jawa. Jakarta: Penerbit Sinar Harapan.

Uppal, Y. (2009). The Disadvantaged Incumbents: Estimating Incumbency Effects in Indian State Legislatures. In Public Choice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-008-9336-4

Wang, C.-S., & Kurzman, C. (2007). The Logistics: How to Buy Votes. Elections for Sale: The Causes and Consequences of Vote Buying. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2013.11.006

Wasistiono, S. (1993). Kepala Desa dan Dinamika Pemilihannya. Bandung: Penerbit Mekar Rahayu.

Westwood, R. I. (1992). Headship and leadership. In Organisational behaviour : Southeast Asian perspectives (pp. 118–143). Hongkong: Longman.

Yuningsih, N. Y., & Subekti, V. S. (2016). Demokrasi dalam Pemilihan Kepala Desa? Studi Kasus Desa Dengan Tipologi Tradisional, Transisional, dan Modern di Provinsi Jawa Barat Tahun 20082013. Jurnal Politik, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.7454/jp.v1i2.21

Zhao, T. (2018). Vote buying and land takings in China’s village elections. Journal of Contemporary China. https://doi.org/10.1080/10670564.2018.1389035

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/pcd.51740