• Ward Berenschot
    Ward Berenschot
Papers

The Political Economy of Clientelism: Regional Disparities and Local Politics Across Indonesia

2018

Abstraksi

Does the character of local politics vary across Indonesia, and if so, why? Combining an expert survey with ethnographic fieldwork on election campaigns, this paper presents of a research collaboration with 35 Indonesian researchers to collect assessments of over 500 local experts about the character of local politics in 38 districts across Indonesia. We find considerable yet consistent variation across Indonesia: while clientelistic politics – the practice of exchanging personal favours for electoral support - is perceived to be less intense throughout Java, particularly the cities, experts consider these exchanges to be much more pervasive in eastern Indonesia, including its provincial capitals. On the basis of these survey results and fieldwork on elections campaigns in Indonesia, the paper develops an alternative perspective on the relation between economic development and clientelistic politics. Most of the literature assessing this link adopts a relatively narrow focus on poverty. Emphasizing the importance of societal constraints, this paper argues that the concentration of control over economic activities fosters clientelism. This concentration of economic control in some regions is stifling the public sphere and inhibiting effective scrutiny and disciplining of politico-business elites. Consequently, policy making needs to be attuned to considerable variation in the character of politics and governance across Indonesia.

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