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STUCK IN PLACE? NORMALIZATION AND THE CHANGING VOTER PROFILE OF INDONESIA'S ISLAMIST PROSPEROUS JUSTICE PARTY

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2021

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Abstract

Using the case of the Indonesian Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), I seek to measure the actual impact of Islamist parties’ moderation on their electoral performances and voter bases. Statistical analyses find that although PKS has experienced an influx of diverse voters since the early 2000s, the influx was offset by a gradual withdrawal of educated Islamist voters, who had been loyal to the party since its establishment. I further claim that this change in PKS's voter profile was attributable not to moderation per se but to normalization, manifesting in an adaptation of the party elites’ behaviors to the existing patterns in Indonesian politics. The party's recent policy shift with a conservative tone was insufficient to regain votes from its original supporters, who already saw PKS as a run-of-the-mill party. PKS's case implies that it is necessary for Islamist parties to maintain their distinctiveness as an alternative voice in the party system.

Keywords

normalizationmoderationProsperous Justice Party (PKS)political IslamIndonesia
Type
Article
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , November 2021 , pp. 449 - 475
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the East Asia Institute

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