3 - Ideologies of Joko Widodo and Indonesian Political Parties

Summary

Introduction

Ideology and political actors are two sides of a coin. Ideology guides political actors’ attitudes and behaviours. Ideology informs their political world views and how they position themselves among other political actors. As emphasized by Hofmeister and Grabow (2011, p. 24), “[I]deologies are comprehensive visions of societies and social developments, which contain explanations, values, and goals for past, present and future developments. Ideologies inspire and justify political and social action. They are an essential element for political orientation.” Conversely, political actors serve as ideological tools, vessels through which ideologies are translated into attitudes and behaviours in the political system. As such, political actors have an important role in translating ideology into political action.

To date, research into ideology and political parties in Indonesia has been limited to how ideology influences policy-making. Several studies, for instance Liddle and Mujani (2007), Slater (2018), Ambardi (2008), and Mietzner (2012), argued that the ideologies of Indonesia's political parties have become increasingly difficult to distinguish from each other. Other studies, such as those by Baswedan (2004) and Mietzner (2012), explained that political parties in Indonesia have maintained their ideologies, at least on strategic issues.

In presidential government systems, the ideologies of political parties are closely linked to the policies implemented by the president. Theoretically, there are two different possible types of relations between presidents and the ideologies of political parties. Firstly, ideologies and political parties may influence the policies enacted by a president. In this assumption, there is no difference between members of parliament and a president working to translate the ideologies and platforms of their supporting parties into public policies. Secondly, the policies adopted by a president may influence the ideologies and programmes of political parties. This has occurred, for example, in the United States, where various policies implemented by the country's president have effected shifts in the programmes of the political party backing him (Lewis 2016).

What, then, is the relationship between the policies of Indonesia's president and the ideologies and programmes of Indonesia's political parties within a multiparty system? Some studies have examined how Joko Widodo (henceforth Jokowi) attempted to implement various policies in the early years of his presidency.