Indonesia's Political Parties: Cartelized and Poorly Institutionalized?

Leiden Southeast Asia Seminar, by Marcus Mietzner
 

Much of the literature on Indonesia's political parties is dominated by two main streams: the first school of thought views the parties as poorly institutionalized, with politicians lacking real roots in society and mostly focusing on rent-seeking. The second, increasingly influential school portrays Indonesia as being in the grip of a party cartel, which conspires in order to milk the state's resources. Mietzner’s talk will critically review these two assumptions and offer an alternative view on party politics in post-authoritarian Indonesia.

Marcus Mietzner
Marcus Mietzner is Senior Lecturer at the College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian Natio-nal University. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at Freiburg University, Germany, where he is completing a book on political parties in Indonesia.

The Leiden Southeast Asia Seminar is a cooperation of the KITLV, IIAS, VVI , the Programme in South and Southeast Asian Languages and Cultures and the Department of Cultural Anthropology & Development
Sociology, Leiden University.