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Patrimonialism and Military Rule in Indonesia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2011

Harold Crouch
Harold Crouch
Affiliation:
National University
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Abstract

Political scientists have recently turned to the Weberian concept of patrimonialism to explain political stability in some Third-World states. Indonesia during the Guided Democracy period is an example of a regime with strong patrimonial characteristics, although its collapse canot be explained in patrimonial terms. The New Order regime has sought to consolidate its power in patrimonial style. Efforts have been made to de-politicize the masses while confining political competition to non-ideological jockeying for power within the elite. However, the New Order's dependence on economic development to obtain support from key groups outside the military elite has tended to push the regime toward increasing regularization and bureaucratization and growing conflict within the military elite. Moreover, the depoliticization drive may not be effective in the long run. In these circumstances, the patrimonial distribution of the spoils of office as a means of maintaining political stability is likely to be increasingly supported by direct repression.

Type
Research Article
Information
World Politics , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , July 1979 , pp. 571 - 587
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1979

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References

1 See Roth, Guenther, “Personal Rulership, Patrimonialism, and Empire-Building in the New States,” World Politics, XX (January 1968), 194–206CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Eisenstadt, S. N., Traditional Patrimonialism and Modern Neo-Patrimonialism (Beverly Hills and London: Sage Publications 1973).Google Scholar

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3 Willner (fn. 2), 249.

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6 See Ward, Kenneth E., The 1971 Election in Indonesia: An East ava Case Study (Melbourne: Centre of Southeast Asian Studies, Monash University 1974).Google Scholar

7 For documentation, see Crouch, Harold, The Army and Politics in Indonesia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press 1978), chap. 11.Google Scholar

8 Anderson (fn. 2), 33.

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10 Ibid., 1095.

11 See Mackie, J.A.C., Problems of the Indonesian Inflation (Ithaca: Modern Indonesia Project, Cornell University 1967).Google Scholar

12 For a detailed discussion of the relations between the military and the technocrats, see Crouch (fn. 7), 318–30.

13 Djojohadikusumo, Sumitro, Indonesia Dalam Perkembangan Dunia [Indonesia in World Development] (Jakarta: Lembaga Penelitian, Pendidikan dan Penerangan Ekonomi dan Sosial 1976), 163.Google Scholar

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