Indonesia’s Political Parties and Minorities

Indonesia's political parties are often portrayed as being more or less the same in terms of ideology and policy platform. The only general distinction is between secularist and Islamic parties. This argument, however, has yet to be thoroughly tested. A new survey of members of the Indonesian political elite explores whether that religious cleavage drives variation in how Indonesian politicians think about social tolerance and pluralism. We find that party membership is a strong indicator of a politician’s views on pluralism, and attitudes toward religious, ethnic and political minorities. Members of secularist parties are substantially more likely to endorse pluralistic ideas and express tolerance toward minorities, while members of Islamic parties are less comfortable with minorities playing a prominent role in Indonesian politics and society. These findings suggest that the cleavage between secularism and political Islam is an important driver of political competition in Indonesia and that political party preferences are more differentiated than often assumed.