Populism grows in a combination of a climate of democracy and economic growth that are both stagnant.
The problem of representative democracy which contains paradoxes coupled with the government's failure to build and grow the people's economy is a place for the seeds of populism to grow. People will be frustrated when democratic institutions can no longer accommodate the interests of the people. Especially if the economy stagnates. People will increasingly dream of the figure of Satria Piningit—the savior. At this point, the Populists will take a chance.
Definition of populism
There is no definite consensus on the definition of populism from political scientists. But at least, the wilderness of the notion of populism can be simplified through the concept offered by Maswadi Rauf, Professor of Political Science at the University of Indonesia. He offers two concepts about populism: populism (with a small p) and Populism (with a capital p).
The term populism (with a small p) has long been recognized in democracies. Democracy is a mechanism designed to guarantee and promote popular sovereignty. Democracy forces party leaders to pay more attention to the interests of the people—more populist in the true sense.
While the term Populism (with p capital) has a certain connotation. Populism is a political movement made by political leaders who hijack the interests of the people to gain political power through elections. As a political movement, Populism is usually promoted by charismatic leaders to attract people's attention. It brought up the issue of government stagnation that caused people's suffering and offered whatever the people wanted as a way to win the election.
"The people's economic difficulties due to the government's failure in the economic field have been used by Populist leaders to get the people's political support," said Maswadi when he was a keynote speaker at the International Conference "Indonesian Democracy in the Age of Populism" at the University of Indonesia Campus, Depok, West Java (11/7).
Democracy Paradox
Indonesian democracy is fairly well established. Indonesia already has all the institutions needed to run democracy at its best. The division of power between the legislative, executive, and judicial institutions has been running. The parties are freely established and have the right to participate in elections that have been run democratically. Now the challenge is to properly function these democratic institutions. The challenge of functioning democratic institutions is considered to be in the hands of the political elite.
“The nature of the political elite causes several problems in Indonesian democracy. They know the values of democracy, but do not act like that. Democratic institutions are not run with democratic values," said Maswadi.
This has caused the implementation of democratic principles—of the people, by the people, and for the people—to be problematic. The political elite controls democratic institutions and weakens the sovereignty of the people. In reality, the people are indeed involved at the time of the election, but all the people are clearly not included in the governing and decision-making processes.
Burhanuddin Muhtadi, a political lecturer at the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, said that the crisis and paradox which is one of the weaknesses of representative democracy has sown the emergence of Populism. In his opinion entitled “Populism; Honey or Poison for Democracy?” he said that Populists would emphasize the gap in the process of public involvement in a democratic system. Policy in some or many ways is not a manifestation of the interests of many people, but rather the result of interactions and compromises between actors or elites.
“When democratic institutions fail to realize the dream of a just world through the active participation of sovereign and independent citizens, populist groups are ready to take over by claiming to put the power back into the people's hand," wrote Burhanuddin Muhtadi.
Andreas Ufen, a researcher at the Asean Studies Institute, German Institute of Global and Area Studies, said that the presidential system also provides space for the emergence of Populists. Presidentialism that focuses on presidential elections makes Populist leaders more free to conduct themselves and become the person the people dream of.
“The emergence of Populism is caused by weak parties and law enforcement. A strong parliamentary system in Europe is usually able to check the power of Populists," said Ufen.
Economy crisis
Problems in the democratic system cannot immediately give rise to populism. There are other variables that really determine the emergence of Populism. Takashi Shiraishi, Professor at Ritsumeikan University, Japan, said that there was a context of economic stagnation that caused Populism to rise in Europe and the United States.
On the second day of the International Conference "Indonesian Democracy in the Age of Populism," he did not agree that Asia would be affected by the storm of Populism as in Europe and the United States. This is because economic growth in Asia is on the rise. This situation is in contrast to conditions in Europe and the United States.
Wahyu Prasetyawan, lecturer in political economy at Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, considers political developments in Indonesia to be at the stage of identity politics. He cites the DKI Jakarta Pilkada in his research to prove that identity politics—especially religion and ethnicity—are the variables that are played to approach voter behavior.
The development from identity politics towards Populism is highly dependent on how the government manages economic growth. In Indonesia itself, economic growth from 2014 to 2017 has increased from 5 percent to 5.2 percent. Although there is growth, this condition is said to be still not very good. Moreover, Indonesia is currently experiencing a financial deficit.
The people's economic disparity at the grassroots level also still needs to be considered. They are still struggling with unemployment, low income, low purchasing power, and poor public services.
If the government doesn't manage to cope with people's expectations of this problem, Populists will emerge. Although not anti-democratic, populism tends to pose a danger to democracy. Populism contains the fantasy of a single society. This is dangerous for Indonesia, which is plural, multicultural, and upholds tolerance for ethnic and religious differences. This populist fantasy not only creates polarization and sparks conflict, but also threatens political opponents as enemies of society.
"With the increasing trend of identity politics, it is possible for clashes between fellow Indonesians to emerge," said Wahyu.
Translated by Catherine Natalia
