Four Threats to Democracy

I concluded that there were four big threats to the success of democracy in Indonesia: radicalism, communism, separatism and corruption.

Ahead of the second-term inauguration of President Joko Widodo, I remembered my first visit ever to Indonesia in 1962-1964. This relates to my concerns for the future of democracy in Indonesia. At the time, as a political science PhD student, I chose national integration in developing countries for my dissertation topic, with Indonesia as a case study.

I was interested to learn how far people’s bond to their ethnicity and religion threatened national unity in a diverse society that had just recently gained its independence. Under the mentorship of Clifford Geertz, I journeyed into the topic anthropologically. I lived in one place and tried to participate in locals’ political activities. The place that I chose was Simalungun regency and its capital Pematangsiantar in North Sumatra.