mindstalk | (Reply)

Is Indonesia's democracy shallow?
I was rather unimpressed by the evidence presented by this article:

The military is one of the country's most popular institutions, a third of citizens don't vote, and most people disagree with the job the legislature is doing? Maybe, but all of this could be claimed of the United States, and nobody's claiming democracy is shallow there. It's absurd to fault Indonesia for voting falling from the 90 percent levels in its first free elections; compulsory voting isn't enforced. India is a large, more or less stable developing democratic country, and turnout is certainly nowhere near that high. (It also has comparable issues with vote-buying and rural voters being swayed by community leaders, while poverty is a far bigger problem.)

The figure of 'only' 70 percent supporting democracy should be plenty really. The Economist published a similar-ish poll showing eastern European states a few weeks ago, basically asking them if they were happy to have democracy and capitalism. Ukraine didn't even show majorities, and nobody came near universal support. But I doubt we are in imminent danger of seeing that country return to the bad old days, despite a political system that is probably far more fractious than Indonesia's.

There are a lot more graft cases, but is that because officials are more corrupt, or because laws are now being enforced?

I'm not claiming the article's thesis is wrong, merely that I'd like to see it backed up.

(My quibbles with this article notwithstanding, I generally enjoy the links you post, which is why I added you a little while ago. So, uh, hi.)