Analysis Of Indonesia's Democratization And The Elements That Influence This Democratization

Indonesia is the only country which has the largest Muslim people,while at the same time it is the world third democracy country.Why Muslim can realize democracy while most Westerners think Muslim doesn't fit democracy.This essay will discuss this question,and analyzes the process of Indonesia's democratization and the elements that influence this process in detail,on the basis of the analysis we can conclude some experiences and implications,this will help people understand Indonesia fully.Based on these empirical contributions from the Indonesia crisis and their implications for political science theories of democratization,the democracy in Indonesia has several lessons to be learned for other countries that want to be democratic.Indonesia is searching democracy form the day it was built,the first president Sukarno established "Liberal Democracy",but was failed because the domestic political and economic circumstances were not mature,then "Guided Democracy" replaced "Liberal Democracy". After eight years of development,the economic situation was weakened,accompany the economic crisis was the political conflict which eventually led to Sukarno's resignation and the end of "Guided Democracy".After Suharto came into power,he established "Pancasila Democracy",and termed his government as "New Order" compared to the Sukarno's "Old Order".Superficially,the government was democratic,held elections every five years,but in reality it was a authoritarian state,Suharto and his cronies controlled every aspects of the whole society,and finally,the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the coming political chaos led to the Suharto' s resignation.From that time on,Indonesia began the real democratization. From Habibie government until Megawati government,Indonesia was experiencing the "Transition Period",at this time,although there existed ration and religious conflicts, secessionist such as Ache and Papua,democracy began to develop toward a healthy direction with a healthy manner.At the year of 2004,Indonesia held the first direct election, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was elected as Indonesia's president,people began to believe that political reform would get on the right track,Indonesia began the period of "consolidation democracy",although Indonesia has made some progress on it's way to democracy,there still exists some problems and difficulties to be solved.There are many elements that contribute to Indonesia's democratization:As to external elements,First is the global environment,globalization has facilitated and strengthened the global contacts,democratic countries begin to care about Indonesia's democratization, Southeast Asia countries begin their democratization process under the "Third Wave of Democracy",people in Indonesia were encouraged by this tide,and call for reform.This contributes to Indonesia's democratic transition.West countries and international organizations support Indonesia's democratization,donate in politics and economic,I choose US,Japan and Dutch as their delegate.Japan is the biggest donor country,although it donates the most finance,most of these are Government-to-Government,from a certain degree,for a certain time,this will consolidate the authoritarian state,this will do no good for the contact between social society and government,but with these money,Indonesia can stabilize its economy and guarantee that all projects can be implemented from the point of finance.The donor strategy of Dutch is just the opposite,from the day it assist Indonesia,Dutch has focused on the domestic social society organizations of Indonesia,provided finance and technology assistance to Indonesia non-governmental organizations,encouraged them to take part in the decision-making process,made use of ample money provided by Japan,it can implement its projects smoothly,this contributes to the interaction between government and social society,finally contributes to the development of Indonesia's democracy.The US donor strategy is taken out not only between governments,but also between non-governments.So the international society has a great impact on Indonesia's democratization process.As to domestic elements,Islam not only does not hinder democracy,but also contributes to the development of democracy through progressive Islam thoughts,Islam mass organizations and party politics.The military reform has gone steadily under the influences of America,the military is retreating from politics gradually,this guarantees social stable,provides good social and political environment for democracy.The development of social society provides mass basis for democracy.Until now,Indonesia's democratization process has been 10 years,how is this democratization? This thesis make an analysis from the points of electoral regime,political liberties,civil rights,horizontal accountability,effective power to rule,stateness,civil society,economic and social requisites,labels them as "stable","increasingly stable", "conditionally unstable" and "unstable".This will help people know better about Indonesia's democratization process.Indonesia's democratization has made great achievements,at the same time,it still faces great challenge,this is determined by its own character.Indonesia's democratization process is a good example for late democratic countries,provides some implications.