Democracy for Sale - by Edward Aspinall & Ward Berenschot (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Written on the basis of extensive fieldwork and survey research, Democracy for Sale shows how Indonesian politics is built around the exchange of cash, goods and favors, and organized through informal relationships and networks rather than parties and formal institutions"--

Book Synopsis

Democracy 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 argument addresses variation in the patterns and intensity of clientelism. Through these arguments and with comparative leverage from political practices in India and Argentina, Democracy for Sale provides compelling evidence of the importance of informal networks and relationships rather than formal parties and institutions in contemporary Indonesia.

Review Quotes

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"

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"

About the Author

Edward Aspinall is Professor of Politics at the Australian National University. He is the author of several books, among them Opposing Suharto and Islam and Nation, and the coedited volume Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia. Ward Berenschot is a researcher at KITLV Leiden and the author of Riot Politics and the co-edited volume In Search of Middle Indonesia.