Description
Book SynopsisDemocracy for Sale is an on-the-ground account of Indonesian democracy, analyzing its election campaigns and behind-the-scenes machinations. Edward Aspinall and Ward Berenschot assess the informal networks and political strategies that shape access to power and privilege in the messy political environment of contemporary Indonesia.
In post-Suharto Indonesian politics the exchange of patronage for political support is commonplace. Clientelism, argue the authors, saturates the political system, and in Democracy for Sale they reveal the everyday practices of vote buying, influence peddling, manipulating government programs, and skimming money from government projects. In doing so, Aspinall and Berenschot advance three major arguments. The first argument points toward the role of religion, kinship, and other identities in Indonesian clientelism. The second explains how and why Indonesia''s distinctive system of free-wheeling clientelism came into being. And the third
Trade Review
A painstakingly researched examination of the way Indonesia has become a patronage democracy.... Aspinall and Berenschot's book shows how many has weakened political parties, ensures that personalities matter more than policy, favors incumbents, and almost forces politicians to become corrupt in order to recoup the expense of running for office.
* New York Review of Books *
Democracy for Sale offers deep insights into political life in Southeast Asia and fresh contributions to the age-old debate over whether true democracy, uncompromised by money and entrenched power, is ever possible.
* Foreign Affairs *
Table of ContentsList of Tables and Figures
Glossary
Acknowledgments
1. Indonesia's Patronage Democracy
2. Capturing Varieties of Clientelism
Part 1: INSTITUTIONS
3. Historical Origins of Free-Wheeling Clientelism
4. Electoral Institutions, Political Parties and Candidates
Part 2: NETWORKS AND RESOURCES
5. Success Teams and Vote Buying
6. Social Networks and Club Goods
Part 3: DISCRETIONARY CONTROL
7. Governance and Public Spending
8. Bureaucrats and the Power of Office
Part 4: COMPARING ACROSS INDONESIA
9. Campaign Financing, Business and the Public Sphere
10. Explaining Variation in Indonesia's Patronage Democracy
Conclusion: Clientelism and the Search for Good Governance
Appendixes
Notes
References
Index
