Democracy Index

· 3 minutes read

The Indonesian Democracy Index, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS), rose significantly in 2017 from the previous year, but it is still within the moderate (fair) level.

According to the 2017 Indonesian Democracy Index (IDI), the country’s democracy scored 72.11 points out of a possible 100 points, up from 70.09 points in 2016. The IDI has three possible ratings: good (above 80), fair (60-80 points) and poor (below 60).

Although rising, the IDI performance has been relatively stagnant since its launch in 2009. This index measures three aspects of democracy, namely civil freedom, political rights and democratic institutions. The rise in the IDI was due to an increase in the scores in the aspects of civil freedoms and democratic institutions, which rose significantly. Meanwhile, the scores on the aspect of political rights declined.

Of the 11 IDI variables, three are categorized as poor. They are the political participation in decision- making, supervision, the role of the Regional Legislative Council (DPRD), and the role of the local bureaucracy. This data shows, even though the index in the aspect of democratic institutions rose markedly, it was only limited to the existence of institutions. The most important things, such as the role of institutions, such as the DPRD as a channel for the aspirations of the people at the local level, has not yet met expectations.

Jakarta recorded the highest scores among 34 provinces on the IDI. In Jakarta, civil freedoms scored 87.73 points, political rights 80.06 points, and democratic institutions 87.12 points. With the performance of the three important aspects in the democracy, Jakarta can become a model for regional governments in improving the direction of the development of democracy.

This BPS report is a reflection of our democracy. The performance remains in the moderate category and fluctuates from year to year. It indicates that hard work is needed to improve democracy.

As a comparison, we should also see how the outside world assesses the quality of our democracy. According to the annual assessment of the Economist Intelligence Unit, which is managed by The Economist , the democracy index of 167 countries mostly dropped in 2017. However, Asia’s two- largest emerging democracies, Indonesia and India, suffered the most significant declines both in their scores and rankings.

The decline in democracy, part of which we have already felt, is in people’s participation in general elections, especially in regions where regional heads have been involved in corruption.

Trust in democratic institutions fell due to the growing gap between those aspired by the political elites and those expected by the people, the weak function of government, and the decline in the lure of the main political parties for potential voters.

The performance of democracy is closely related to the improvement of welfare and culture, accepting differences of opinion, and tolerance to those with different beliefs.

The IDI made us aware that we need to jointly build a rational attitude and be able to sort out the hatred speech and false news and not to force our will. We need a wise attitude toward the 2019 elections so that our democracy matures

Editor:

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