Ideological polarisation is the price of democratic representation in Indonesia

Democratic backsliding — understood as the decline of democratic norms, institutions, and processes — is a well-documented development that has concerned most world regions, and Indonesia offers an apt illustration of how this unsettling phenomenon may unfold. After the breakdown of authoritarianism in the late 1990s, it defied expectations by establishing democratic institutions and implementing several waves of free and fair national and local elections. But Indonesia’s democratic trajectory has since taken a darker turn, marked by illiberalism, polarisation and the rise of radical political Islam.