Abstract
This article discusses the nature and extent of ideological predispositions of the Jakarta electorate. Using a survey of a random sample of voting-aged Jakarta population, this research attempts to explore how polarised the voters are and how their ideological proclivities are related to their political alignment. The distribution of the ideological map shows that voters are generally divided on political secularism and economic dimensions. On the political secular dimension, Anies-Prabowo’s voters tend to support the larger role of Islam and Muslim clerics in politics while Ahok-Jokowi’s are resistant to the increasing role of Islam and its clerics in politics. On the economic dimension, Anies-Prabowo’s voters are more inclined towards economic nationalist views while Ahok-Jokowi’s are more tolerant of economic liberalism. However, further multi-variate tests reveal that the political affiliation drives the ideological cleavage in political secularism dimension only. Meanwhile, in the economic dimension, the main driver is party identification.
Highlights
Political polarisation might be one of the most popular phrases used by many observers to describe Indonesian politics recently
The multi-variate regression analysis exhibited in Table 3 shows that the relationship between ideology and political affiliation only holds for the political secular dimension
This article examines the extent to which political polarisation has occurred in Jakarta and how this polarisation is related to political affiliation
Summary
Political polarisation might be one of the most popular phrases used by many observers to describe Indonesian politics recently. While the general meaning of this term is clear among scholars, observers, and the public, not many of them are quite explicit about the term and how to measure it. When they talk about polarisation, they talk about political cleavages between the two competing groups since the 2014 presidential election. Severe polarisation can lead to policy gridlock because the opposing camps developed zero-s um perception that hinder their ability to co-operate. Severe polarisation can justify undemocratic actions by one group towards another: while government supporters increasingly condone illiberal practice of curbing the political rights of the opposition, the supporters of the opposition might support extra-constitutional measures to remove the incumbents
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