Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia

Illiberal Democracy in Indonesia traces the origins and development on twentieth century Indonesia of a stream of conservative political thought called organicism. The key tenet of organicism or 'integralism' as it is better known in Indonesia, is that state and society are part of the same organic unity, often symbolised by a family or a harmonious village community. This thesis focuses on the political uses to which organicist ideologies and political formulas have been put in post-independence Indonesia, and the elaboration and mass propagation of organicist ideology by Suharto's 'New Order' regime. It examines the 1989-91 debates about the integralist state, and shows how opposition to organicism reflected not only growing pressures for democratic political reform but also the contradictions between government principles and the demands for transparency and predictability from society.

"This is an exciting and highly original work that makes a major contribution to the history of Indonesian political thinking. One great strength is the complex link between German organicist and Dutch legal thinking and romantic Indonesian nationalism. Another is the story of the impact of Japanese political thinking from the 1920s to the 1940s. This work is rich and subtle, full of intriguing historical detail and insight. It is particularly relevant now, with the current renewed burst of hostility towards Western liberal democracy in Indonesia."
David Reeve, University of New South Wales, Australia

"At one level David Bourchier has given us a crucial analysis of the ideas and mechanisms behind Sukarno’s ‘Guided Democracy’ and Suharto’s enduring authoritarian-developmentalist state, which between them shaped Indonesia over its first half-century. At another it is of much broader significance, in tracing the lineage into Asia of one of the more influential alternatives to parliamentary democracy thrown up by the turbulent nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Despite the undoubted successes of this democracy in Indonesia since 1998, we would be foolish to ignore the disenchantments with it and the continuing appeal of its rivals--in Indonesia as throughout Asia. This exploration of one deep alternative current is as timely now as it ever was.

Anthony Reid, Australian National University

"I am thrilled to see the publication of this book. It is arguably the most important work yet produced on the genesis of modern Indonesian political ideology. While a first-rate analysis of Indonesia, it will be of interest to anyone who seeks to understand the complex ways in which political ideologies are historically formed and reshaped, in varying social contexts, and in response to the shifting requirements of power."

Vedi Hadiz, Murdoch University, Australia

University of Western Australia, Australia

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