| ID | 178634 |
| Title Proper | Quiet revolution? village head elections and the democratization of rural Indonesia |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Berenschot, Ward ; Capri, Wigke ; Dhian, Devy |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | While democratization is regularly associated with elite renewal, established elites often succeed in maintaining their dominance after the fall of the authoritarian regime that fostered them. This constitutes a relatively understudied challenge facing democratization processes: when and how do democratic reforms succeed in fostering the emergence of new elites? This paper addresses this question through a study of village head elections in three rural districts around Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Comparing older studies of village head elections with ten in-depth studies of recent village head elections as well as assessments of the backgrounds of eighty village heads (kepala desa), this paper shows that a remarkable change has taken place. Whereas up to ten years ago many villages were still ruled by leaders from established families with a quasi-hereditary grip on power, in recent years such leaders are rapidly being replaced by village heads with more modest family backgrounds and a different style of leadership. This important change has resulted from a combination of democratic reforms, the diversification of rural economies, and the particularly competitive character of village head elections. Elite renewal is possible when open and information-dense elections coincide with a process of economic diversification undercutting the economic dominance of established elites. |
| `In' analytical Note | Critical Asian Studies Vol. 53, No.1; Mar 2021: p.126-146 |
| Journal Source | Critical Asian Studies 2021-03 53, 1 |
| Key Words | Indonesia ; Governance ; Democratization ; Village Elections ; Elite Transformation |