Why Political Parties don’t and do Matter in Local Government Elections in Indonesia: A Manado Case

Abstract

Introduction: Despite decentralization devolving increasing decision-making powers to subnational governments across Asia, the subject of local-level elections has not received anywhere near the academic attention afforded to national elections. This article aims to make a contribution to filling this gap in the literature on the dynamics of local election by examining the political parties’ activities in the 2010 local executive election in Indonesia through the detailed case study of Manado City. Materials and Methods: This article used a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies for a case study of the Manado local government election in 2010. These methods include direct observation which had been done during the election in 2010, review of relevant media articles and books, collection of statistics from relevant government organizations and interviews. The latter comprised the most important and novel aspect of the research. The interviews were of two types: First, there was a quantitative survey of 100 selected voter respondents using questionnaire with 22 closed-ended questions. Second, there were semi-structured interviews with the local leaders of political parties, the heads of campaign teams, the candidates, the members of the local electoral organization, the representatives of NGOs, mass media personnel and the survey organisations who monitored the election. The quantitative data was explored with the aid of a computer application program (SPSS) while the qualitative data was analysed through a thematic approach. Although the qualitative data collection and analysis was dominant, the quantitative methodology was still important in this article. Results: This article found a paradoxical situation in that political parties did not and did matter. They did not matter case was supported by evidence showing that voters chose candidates based on their personalities, behaviours and programs rather than on party loyalty. On the contrary, they did matter case derived from the superior organisational abilities of parties in running successful election campaigns and in aligning themselves with the candidates most likely to win. Discussion: This article had made a valuable addition to explaining the activities of political parties at local level in the context of decentralization. The implication of this research is that although voters did not choose political parties, the latter were nonetheless highly significant in determining the outcome of the local government election in Manado City. So, it is useful for future research to consider more closely the role of parties in local elections.

The regulatory failure of spatial planning and its environmental impact: a case study of hotel projects in Bali, Indonesia

“…According to Mietzner (2010), in gubernatorial elections, a candidate must spend IDR 100bn (US$10m) to realistically win the election (Mietzner, 2010). Sampe (2015) states that his cost consists of the nomination of a candidate to participate in the elections and the involvement of strategic advisors, political consultants, opinion surveys and media campaigns. Interestingly, Berenschot (2018) shows that the costs also cover what it is called as "vote-buying": illegal distribution of cash payment to voters.…”

Matching and Research for Voter Data Update in Surabaya Mayoral Election in 2020 From the Perspective of Fiqh Al-Siyasah

“…In the previous study, there was research related to elections, such as the implementation of Law No. 7 of 2017 on General Elections (Study on Updating Voter Data in Elections in Bone Regency) (Delviani, 2018), Work Culture of Voter Data Update Officers in Elections in Padang Panjang City (Weriza et al, 2018), Neo-Ibuism in Indonesian Politics: Election Campaigns of Wives of Regional Heads in West Sumatra in 2019 (Ichsan Kabullah & Fajri, 2021), and Why Political Parties don't and do Matter in Local Government Elections in Indonesia: A Manado Case (Sampe, 2021). Research on elections and fiqh al-siyasah was conducted by Alfhiryana Aulya Dwi Putri (Alfhiryana Aulya Dwi Putri, 2019), Haris Wanto (Wanto, 2017), and Roikhatul Hamidah (Hamidah, 2019).…”