Socio-Political Conflict Dynamics After the 2024 Polewali Mandar Election

type="graphical" xml:id="gpol12235-abs-0001"> Democracy requires the critical engagement of practitioners and experts alike.

The contemporary rise of populist leadership has been widely associated with increasing political polarization and declining trust in democratic institutions. However, existing scholarship has largely treated trust erosion as a secondary consequence of affective polarization or ideological radicalization. This article advances a different argument: populist rhetoric erodes democratic trust primarily by redefining democratic procedures and institutions as illegitimate obstacles to popular sovereignty rather than as its normative foundations. The article introduces the concept of procedural cynicism to capture this shift in citizens? understanding of democracy, whereby courts, media, elections, and checks and balances are no longer perceived as safeguards of democratic rule, but as instruments of elite domination. Drawing on a mixed-methods research design, the study combines qualitative content analysis of populist leaders? speeches, semi-structured interviews, and quantitative survey analysis. The qualitative component examines recurring rhetorical strategies in the discourse of prominent populist leaders, focusing on moral dichotomization, anti-elitist framing, and the systematic delegitimization of institutional mediation. This is complemented by semi-structured interviews conducted with participants in Albania and comparative contexts, which provide insight into how populist narratives are interpreted at the individual level and how they reshape citizens? normative expectations of democratic governance. Finally, survey data from a large-scale U.S. sample are used to assess the relationship between exposure to populist rhetoric and levels of trust in democratic institutions, controlling for key socio-demographic variables. The findings demonstrate that populist rhetoric does more than intensify political antagonism. It actively transforms the meaning of democracy itself by promoting a vision of unmediated popular will that renders procedural constraints suspect or illegitimate. Interview evidence reveals that individuals influenced by populist discourse often express distrust toward democratic institutions while simultaneously affirming their commitment to ?true democracy,? indicating a normative redefinition rather than outright democratic rejection. The quantitative results support these patterns, showing a statistically significant association between exposure to populist rhetoric and reduced institutional trust, particularly among less educated and socioeconomically vulnerable groups. By conceptualizing trust erosion as a process of procedural cynicism, this article contributes to debates on populism, democratic legitimacy, and political communication. It highlights how populist rhetoric undermines democracy not only by polarizing societies, but by hollowing out the procedural foundations upon which democratic trust ultimately depends.

In the young state of Indonesia, old local authorities like sultanates have reasserted themselves. This reemergence of localized authority does not necessarily conflict with nation building. Survey research among adult samples (N = 399) in the neighbouring sultanates of Yogyakarta and Surakarta found that social representations of history were implicated in the relationship between monarchism and national identity. In Yogyakarta (but not Surakarta), a positive intersection between local and national representations of history was found: events and people associated with the sultanate were also regarded as instrumental to the birth of the nation. In Yogyakarta, support for the sultanate was higher than in Surakarta: respondents argued that Yogyakarta had the culture and history required to justify status as a special autonomous region. In Yogyakarta but not Surakarta, monarchism was positively related to national identity and trust in national democratic political institutions. The intersection between local and national representations of history, especially concerning the instrumentality of the local monarchy in giving birth to the nation in Yogyakarta, created historical continuity/positive intersectionality where the superordinate nation and the local monarchy are networked in a system of power and meaning that lends trust in democratic institutions from monarchism, and strengthens national identity.

The role of health and health systems in shaping political engagement and rebuilding trust in democratic institutions

In the era of globalization, Indonesia's digital democracy faces significant challenges such as misinformation, privacy issues, and the digital divide, despite its high internet penetration. These certainly pose a major threat to the sustainability of digital democracy in Indonesia and the development of digital democracy in the future. Therefore, this study intends to analyze how Indonesia can effectively improve digital democracy while addressing these challenges. Using a systematic literature review method, this study examines literature published between 2019 and 2024, applying strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria include peer-reviewed articles and research reports directly related to democracy, public participation, and technology, published in Indonesian or English. Exclusion criteria eliminate irrelevant opinions, outdated publications before 2014, and studies with weak methodology. The study findings reveal that increasing digital literacy can significantly reduce political polarization caused by misinformation. In addition, this study emphasizes the need for collaboration between the government, society, and the private sector to promote inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability in the democratic process. In conclusion, this study recommends policies that prioritize digital literacy and technology development to create a sustainable digital democracy. The implementation of these policy recommendations can provide a framework for increasing public engagement and trust in democratic institutions, ultimately contributing to a more resilient and equitable digital democracy in Indonesia.

General elections in Indonesia are an important mechanism in the democratic process that aims to elect people's representatives and government leaders. However, the electoral system in Indonesia faces various problems that can threaten the quality of democracy. These problems include the practice of money politics, vote manipulation, and lack of transparency in the election process. In addition, the existence of political intervention and bureaucracy that are not neutral are also serious challenges. The impact of these problems on democracy is very significant, including declining public trust in democratic institutions, weakening public political participation, and hampering the process of forming an accountable and responsive government. Therefore, a comprehensive electoral system reform is needed to strengthen democracy in Indonesia.

Background: Political participation and trust in democratic institutions are critical indicators of the strength and sustainability of democratic systems. Among youth, particularly university students, these factors shape future civic engagement and governance outcomes. Objective: To examine the patterns of political participation and levels of trust in democratic institutions among university students, and to explore how institutional trust influences youth engagement in political processes. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was employed, surveying 400 university students and conducting in-depth interviews with 20 participants. Quantitative data captured trends in political participation, while qualitative interviews provided insights into perceptions, motivations, and barriers to engagement. Results: The result showed that political involvement was moderate, and the most common form of participation was voting and digital activism, but official party membership was low. Democratic institutions were largely distrusted with poor scores in political parties and parliament but the judiciary scored relatively higher. Institutional trust and political participation have a positive and weak relationship. A set of qualitative themes consisted of ideas of corruption, inefficiency, and representation absence as obstacles and positive expectations about youth-led politics and the empowering influence of digital platforms. Conclusion: The paper highlights the role of institutional trust in juvenile political participation and the Digital Divide as a significant limitation, especially among the more rural students. Increasing transparency, accountability, and digital inclusivity is the key to improving youth participation and resilience among democratic institutions.

The transformation towards society 5.0 is often characterized by people's behavior in digital public spaces causing widespread public unrest. This qualitative study aims to highlight, explore, and analyze the social character of people on social media who are less tolerant and caring. This study relies on secondary data from literature studies and online news. The finding is that there is a phenomenon of weakness in the social character of individuals and communities who tend to be intolerant and uncaring in digital public spaces. The habit of posting content or creating statuses that are abusive, threatening, intimidating, and behavior that spreads hoax news, hate speech, and flexing. Weak social character has implications for people's habits of spreading news too quickly without caring about other people. Apart from that, the digital technology revolution brings a sense of comfort and entertainment, and anyone can express themselves on social media. Unfortunately, technological progress is not accompanied by the development of critical-analytical thinking skills. As a result, individual society behavior is too responsive-reactive in the digital space without thinking about the further impacts that might arise. This has had negative implications for social cohesion and relations and even legal issues. This study recommends strengthening social character with strategies for strengthening individual critical-analytical thinking abilities through education at school. It is hoped that individuals who have been coached, trained, and accustomed to being tolerant and caring at school can become citizens of society 5.0 who are wise in using social media. In this way, it is hoped that a high level of tolerant and socially caring character will be realized so that the ideals of a prosperous, civilized, and progressive society 5.0 will become a reality.

This chapter examines trust in democratic institutions. The chapter argues that representative democracy is founded on a relationship between citizens and state premised on trust. Trust is important for two reasons: (1) sovereignty is transferred from the people to a legislative body, meaning that the stability and vitality depend, in part, upon trust; and (2) trust serves as a creator of collective power, enabling leaders to make commitments on the basis of it and govern more effectively. Multivariate models confirm that trust in democratic institutions is multidimensional. The research pinpoints its values-based components, its rootedness in civil society, its performance-based aspects and its grounding in political partisanship. In addition, the research not only shows that trust differ between the east and the west, but that it is conditioned by different theoretical mechanisms. The findings have implications for democratic reform and for research about cultivating trust in new democracies.

Studies have shown religious organizations to be among the most trusted institutions of civil society in Europe. Similarly, research has revealed that, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, church organizations boast far higher levels of trust than government organizations or nonreligious civil society institutions. In this study, the link between religion and trust in democratic institutions among individuals is explored in relation to the size of the largest religious group in twenty-one European countries. Based on the European Social Survey (Round 2, 2004) and using multilevel modeling it is concluded that the larger the size of the largest religious group, the lower the level of trust in democratic institutions among religious minorities. This finding supports the hypothesis that the larger the size of the largest religious group, the more likely minorities are to fear that the government is dominated by the largest religious group and their interests are not represented.

Research on the Roleof Santri Middle Class in Democratization Process in Indonesia was conducted in three cities in Java, i.e. the Cities of East Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. The research was conducted by using quantitative approach and survey method. The data collection method used in this research is direct interview technique, by using questionnaire instrument that was asked to the respondents directly through face to face.There are two types of hypotheses to be proved through this survey research, they are associative and comparativehypotheses.The associative hypothesis verification aims to prove whether there is significant relationship between dependent variable (Y) and independent variable (X) as predictor or not. Inthis research context, the relationship between role in the democratization process as the dependent variable (Y) with predictor independent variables(X) will be tested, which are the literacy of political and economic information(X1), satisfaction to public services (X2), trust in democratic institutions (X3), access to political resources (X4), ideology (X5), and relative deprivation (X6).The comparative hypothesisverificationaims to prove whether there is significant difference between two or more different respondent groups or not. Based on this research purpose, the differences of two respondent groups will be proved comparatively related to their role in the democratization process; they are (1) santrimiddle-class group and (2) groups of santrinon-middle class.There are two types of hypotheses to be proved through this survey research, they are associative and comparative hypotheses. The associative hypothesis verification aims to prove whether there is significant relationship between dependent variable (Y) and independent variable (X) as predictor or not. In this research context, the relationship between role in the democratization process as the dependent variable (Y) with predictor independent variables (X) will be tested, which are the literacy of political and economic information (X1), satisfaction to public services (X2), trust in democratic institutions (X3), access to political resources (X4), ideology (X5), and relative deprivation (X6). The comparative hypothesis verification aims to prove whether there is significant difference between two or more different respondent groups or not. Based on this research purpose, the differences of two respondent groups will be proved comparatively related to their role in the democratization process; they are (1) santri middle-class group and (2) groups of santri non-middle class.From the result of hypothesis associative verification, it is proved that all variables X correlated positively and significantly to variable Y. With this result, then the literacy of political and economic information (X1), satisfaction to public services (X2), trust in democratic institutions (X3), access to political resources (X4), ideology (X5), and relative deprivation (X6) are proved to correlate positively and significantly to the role in democratization (Y).From the result of comparative hypothesis verification, the X2 value of 1363.44 is obtained. This value is greater than the X2 value of table at 88 degrees of freedom and significance level of 0.5. With this result, then the null hypothesis which stated that there is no significant difference between santri middle class and other class groups is rejected. This means the alternative hypothesis that stated otherwise is received. Conclusion based on this examination result is that there are significant differences between the role of santri middle class and other group samples in the democratization process.

The legality of empty boxes in Indonesia's elections raises critical questions about democratic legitimacy and public trust. Empty boxes often symbolize voter dissatisfaction with candidates, reflecting deeper systemic issues within the democratic framework. This study examines the legality and implications of empty boxes, employing a normative juridical approach to analyze legal and political perspectives. Data were collected through a legislative, comparative, and case-based approach, followed by descriptive analysis. The findings reveal that while empty boxes can serve as a form of protest, they also highlight the limitations of political parties in presenting viable candidates. This phenomenon undermines the legitimacy of electoral outcomes and public trust in democratic institutions. By exploring voter behavior, legal frameworks, and historical precedents, this research identifies the empty box phenomenon as a critical challenge to Indonesia's democracy. The study concludes that addressing the root causes of voter dissatisfaction and promoting political competition are essential for safeguarding democratic integrity. This research contributes to the discourse on electoral governance and offers recommendations for strengthening Indonesia's democratic processes.

The article provides a systematic analysis of threats to compliance with legal principles of elections in a globalized digital society. It is argued that elections are one of the main elements of democracy, through which individuals and political parties gain power, the international legal system has formed established legal principles of the electoral process that determine its acceptability, legality and legitimization of results. The globalized digital society creates additional opportunities for the exercise of electoral rights, along with threats to the established legal principles of elections. Free and fair elections are the basis of the democratic process. Electoral abuses undermine the legitimacy of the electoral process, the general acceptability of election results and challenge the democratization process. These principles call for expanding access to voting and democracy and removing barriers to participation, which can be achieved by harnessing the potential benefits of a globalized digital society. The author argues that disinformation poses a threat to democracy and elections, with far-reaching consequences for human rights and democratic norms around the world, threatening freedom of expression, the right to privacy and the right to democratic participation, as well as jeopardizing a range of economic, social and cultural rights, reducing broader indicators of the quality of democracy, undermining citizens’ trust in democratic institutions. Disinformation during elections undermines trust in democratic institutions by fueling false negative beliefs about the integrity of elections, or by supporting dictators by creating false positive perceptions of them. It argues that a comprehensive strategy is needed to protect electoral rights and electoral procedures from the impact of the digital society with its manifestations of cyberattacks and disinformation. The positions of the scientific community on the appropriateness of using electronic voting tools are considered. The thesis is proved that, in general, while identifying significant positives for the state and members of society when introducing new technologies, from the point of view of political and legal practice, one should be cautious about the active introduction of electronic elections into the implementation sphere. Keywords: elections, electoral rights, globalized digital society, disinformation, legal regulation, legal principles, legitimacy of government, electronic elections.

Mitra dalam program kemitraan masyarakat ini adalah pemilih pemula pada Desa Batetangnga, Kecamatan Binuang, Kabupaten Polewali Mandar. Masalah yang dialami adalah 1). Kurang pahamnya masyarakat secara komprehensif tentang etika dalam bersosial media dalam dinamika kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara, 2). Kurangnya kemampuan dalam mengidentifikasi informasi yang ada di dunia maya terkait Hoax, Hate Speech dan Negative Campaign, 3). Kurangnya pengetahuan terkait kewajiban akan peran dalam mencegah penyebaran berita bohong dan ujaran kebencian yang kerap terjadi dimasyarakat. Solusi yang ditawarkan dari permasalahan mitra adalah melaksanakan kegiatan workshop Pelatihan Literasi Media Sosial Bagi Pemilih Pemula Tentang Hoax, Hate Speech Dan Negative Campaign Menghadapi Tahun Politik 2024 Di Desa Batetangnga, Kec. Binuang, Kab. Polewali Mandar yang terdiri dari tiga kegiatan yakni memberikan Edukasi Dimensi dan Ruang Lingkup Hoax, Hate Speech dan Negative Campaign, mendemonstrasikan implementasi Peraturan Perundang-undangan terkait Hoax, Hate Speech dan Negative Campaign, serta Strategi Pemilih Pemula dalam Menghadapi Hoax, Hate Speech, dan Negative Campaign serta Perannya dalam Mencegah Penyebaran Hoax, Hate Speech, dan Negative Campaign Melalui Literasi Digital. Metode yang digunakan dalam program kemitraan masyarakat ini adalah ceramah, demonstrasi/ilustrasi, tanya jawab, diskusi dan pendampingan. Hasil yang diharapkan dapat dicapai adalah 1). Peserta memahami dimensi dan ruang lingkup Hoax, Hate Speech dan Negative Campaign, 2). Peserta mampu mendemonstrasikan implementasi Peraturan Perundang-undangan terkait Hoax, Hate Speech dan Negative Campaign, 3). Peserta mampu membuat strategi dalam menghadapi Hoax, Hate Speech, dan Negative Campaign serta mengambil peran dalam mencegah penyebaran Hoax, Hate Speech, dan Negative Campaign melalui Literasi Digital.

This study investigates the widespread interference of the Punjab elites in the third tier of the government and how this interference is obstructing governance, transparency, and grassroots development. Elite dominance in the region is established through the manipulation of elections, control of development funds, and influence over the administrative decisions of local governments but not only, but also undermines the autonomy and effectiveness of the latter. Although constitutionally provided for a decentralization process, institutional and socio political inequalities, patronage networks, all oblige elites to seize local governance systems, by diverting necessary resources and under delivering basic public services. A qualitative research approach is employed based on semi structured interviews with local government officials, community leaders, and governance experts to bring to understanding the nature, extent and impact of the elite interference. These findings show that elite capture not only undermines service delivery and increases socio economic disparities, but that it also erodes public trust in democratic institutions and impedes participation by marginalized groups. Legal and institutional reforms to enhance accountability, transparency and community participation in local governance are an urgent task that is highlighted by the research. The key recommendations are for improving legal frameworks promoting participatory budgeting, reducing patronage politics, empowering marginalized groups, using technology to enable transparent and inclusive governance. Through this study, we add to the larger debate on decentralization and governance in general and offer specific action points on how to deal with the problem of elite interference and strengthen the third tier of government in Punjab.