TY - JOUR
T1 - Made by committee and consensus
T2 - Parties and policy in the Indonesian parliament
AU - Sherlock, Stephen
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - The study of political parties in the parliamentary arena in Indonesia is in its infancy. This has led to various assumptions about the way parties act in the House of People's Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, or DPR) that are based on scanty evidence and are heavily influenced by hostile attitudes to the DPR common in the media and the NGO community. The paper argues that, contrary to assertions that central party leaders exercise strict discipline over their members in parliament, coordination between party and caucuses, or fraksi, is weak, inconsistent and ad hoc. The paper concludes that this situation is facilitated by the eschewing of public votes through the process of decision making by 'consensus', a practice that is actually a vote by fraksi leaders to the exclusion of ordinary members.
AB - The study of political parties in the parliamentary arena in Indonesia is in its infancy. This has led to various assumptions about the way parties act in the House of People's Representatives (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat, or DPR) that are based on scanty evidence and are heavily influenced by hostile attitudes to the DPR common in the media and the NGO community. The paper argues that, contrary to assertions that central party leaders exercise strict discipline over their members in parliament, coordination between party and caucuses, or fraksi, is weak, inconsistent and ad hoc. The paper concludes that this situation is facilitated by the eschewing of public votes through the process of decision making by 'consensus', a practice that is actually a vote by fraksi leaders to the exclusion of ordinary members.
KW - Consensus
KW - Indonesia
KW - Parliament
KW - Political parties
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84872292945&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.5367/sear.2012.0121
DO - 10.5367/sear.2012.0121
M3 - Article
SN - 0967-828X
VL - 20
SP - 551
EP - 568
JO - South East Asia Research
JF - South East Asia Research
IS - 4
ER -