Publication Details
Abstract
The Indonesian democracy arrived after a very lengthy period of political reformation which made the people at the heart of the administration system. This article seeks to evaluate the strategic positions the two major actors in the democratization of Indonesia have played, including the state and the civil society. The offered research is descriptive qualitative research that utilizes the library research method and involves a scope of primary and secondary sources, such as books, scholarly journals, legal documents and other empirical studies connected with it. The results provide clear evidence that the state enjoys predominant powers on structural bases of the democracy, including: the regulation of elections, transparency of budgets and participation of forums. In the meantime, the civil society actively participates in policy lobbying, political education, and check-ups. Even though the synergy between the state and the civil society has shown positive advancement, the quality of democracy in Indonesia remains problematic as it has been characterized by power imbalance, political illiteracy, marginal representation of the citizens in the processes of making of law. The researcher then concludes that the success of democratization of Indonesia lies in a mutual friendly relationship between the state and civil society, the need to increase institution capacity as well as the institutionalized culture of participation in politics. The findings should be used as a long-term strategic basis of forming more inclusive and longer-lasting democratic policies in the future.