Reviving Democracy

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

A mural with the theme of democracy adorns the wall of the General Election Commission Office in Solo, Central Java, Friday (13/10/2017)

Why is it necessary to "revive" or rejuvenate democracy? Is democracy no longer alive? Isn\'t democracy the most dominant political system in the world that it is hard to believe it could die?

There has been a growing discourse in Indonesia about "democracy is dead". There has been heated conversation and debate among academics, politicians and government officials about this issue. The discourse of "the death of democracy" causes euphoria among figures, organizations, or groups who reject democracy for certain reasons. If democracy died, they assumed there was a chance for the adoption of another political system.

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Since democracy has been adopted as a political system in more and more countries, opponents of democracy generally advocate authoritarianism. This system can be based on secularism or theocracy.

The discourse on the "death of democracy" also seems to strengthen the position of those who are skeptical about democracy. The skeptics do not believe that democracy can be functional and effective in building economic prosperity, socio-cultural progress and civilization for citizens.

The People\'s Republic of China is a successful example of a one party system.

The skeptics who reject authoritarianism and theocracy advocate alternative political systems. For them, the alternative is totalitarianism with a single political party system or one dominant political party. The People\'s Republic of China is a successful example of a one party system. Often the leaders of democratic countries are tempted to follow the PRC model in some way.

Aso read: Folklore

Taking into account the developing discourse and movement, it is important for exponents of democracy in Indonesia to understand what exactly is meant by "the death of democracy". Furthermore, it is also necessary to understand from which point of view and how the process of "the death of democracy". A careful study of this subject should encourage supporters and enforcers of democracy to do everything necessary to prevent democracy from falling to death. How dangerous; various expressions of freedom will also disappear if democracy dies.

Therefore, it is necessary to make various efforts to keep democracy alive. It is necessary to restore trust in democracy as a political system that contains fewer disadvantages than other political systems, such as authoritarianism, theocracy and totalitarianism.

Kompas/Wawan H Prabowo

A mural with the theme of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika appears on Jalan Pembangunan, Pengasinan Village, Gunung Sindur District, Bogor, West Java, Saturday (11/7/2020).

All of these recommendations are very important in the Indonesian context. There have been many judgments from authoritative institutions at home or abroad regarding the state of Indonesian democracy. Their views can become a reference in measuring the development of Indonesian democracy.

They almost agree that Indonesia\'s democracy has been regressing in the last four years or more. Indeed, Indonesian democracy has not fallen into "death". However, there are more signs that the life and vitality of Indonesian democracy will continue to decline.

Once again, there needs to be a proportional understanding on the "death of democracy" opinions which are now growing; which were triggered by the recirculation of the books of two political professors at Harvard University, United States, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, “How Democracies Die” (2018). Although since the beginning of its publication it has also been circulating in Indonesia, it is only recently that this book has become a topic of public discussion.

This paper comprehensively discusses the ups and downs of democracy in the last century.

In fact, there are quite a lot of literatures prior to the work of Levitsky and Ziblatt that speak about "the death of democracy." One of the most important is John Keane\'s “The Life and Death of Democracy” (2009). This paper comprehensively discusses the ups and downs of democracy in the last century. Keane argues that the history of democracy is important to understand in order to build a more genuine democracy at present time. Through history, the factors that made democracy move forward or backward can be explored. Through history, democratic leaders and exponents of democracy have also been able to avoid the traps and temptations that can alienate the nation-state from democracy. Despite its ups and downs, democracy never really dies.

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Although the title of Levitsky and Ziblatt\'s book reads “How Democracies Die”, the two do not mean literally, to call democracy "no longer breathing". They only explained that "democracy can die" because it was shackled by leaders of democratic countries. There are several countries whose leaders are bringing democracy to death. They include the United States under President Donald Trump, Hungary under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Russia under Vladimir Putin and Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

How can democracy die? According to Levitsky and Ziblatt, the death of democracy is due to the rise of authoritarianism that uses democracy. It is not easy to prevent the emergence of a leader in the democratic process who then overrides democracy by implementing authoritarianism.

Based on Trump\'s political behavior, Levitsky and Ziblatt listed four indicators of authoritarianism. First, reject or weakly commit to democratic provisions, for example by canceling the constitution, supporting unconstitutional means, such as a coup; and rejecting the legitimacy of elections. Second, denying the legitimacy of political opponents; accuse the opposition of being involved in subversion or crime or of being a foreign agent so that it is not appropriate to participate in the political process.

DAHLIA IRAWATI

The Malang Gusdurian Network and the Sufi Jabung Gubug attended the Christmas celebration Mass at the St. Vincentius A Paulo Church, Jalan Raya Langsep, Malang City, Tuesday (25/12/2019).

Third, tolerate or encourage violence through the use of paramilitary groups, gangs or thugs. Encourage them to commit violence against the opposition. Fourth, limiting the freedom of political opponents and civil society which they call "excessive" and imposing restrictions on the media.

There is no shortcut to continue to keep democracy alive in a more authentic and genuine way. Levitsky and Ziblatt also did not provide a solution to prevent the "death" of democracy at the hands of the authoritarian leaders.

The power of civil society has been deeply entrenched in the lives of citizens for decades.

In the Indonesian context, despite experiencing setbacks, democracy is clearly not replaced by other political systems. Indonesia is fortunate with the large number of civilians who, although marginalized, remain resilient and dynamic. The power of civil society has been deeply entrenched in the lives of citizens for decades. As the regime continues to change, civil society continues to maintain and enliven democracy.

ABK

Azyumardi Azra

Next week, Wednesday (9/12/2020), amid the continuing increase in Covid-19 cases, Indonesia will organize fairly massive regional head elections. Can this regional elections bring democracy to life? That question is not easy to answer. However, democracy is clearly more than just pilkada and regular elections. Democracy also requires freedom of expression and aspiration, with civil society as an integral part of the political process. This is what civil society also needs to strive for.

AZYUMARDI AZRA, History Professor at State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah; Indonesian Association of Sciences Culture Commission (KK AIPI) member