Indonesia's New Order

Indonesia's New Order

Talking Democracy While Tearing It: Authoritarian Conservatism in New Order Indonesia

Indonesian conservative thinkers claimed to save their country from populist socialism of Sukarno and the Left. They dreamed of a democratic polity free from “extremism” and underdevelopment. Instead, what they built was an authoritarian, corporatist, and developmentalist regime. This essay (re)examines their ideological justification for it.

7.04.2026

Indonesia's New Order

When Soldiers Became Jurists: The Legal Origins of Indonesia’s Authoritarianism

How did Indonesia’s military learn to rule through law? This essay argues that a “military-juridical nexus” between civilian jurists and army officers in the 1950s built the legal foundations of authoritarianism—transforming emergency powers into durable institutions that continue to shape Indonesia’s civil–military relations today.

11.03.2026

Indonesia's New Order

New Order’s Authoritarian Legacies and Indonesia’s Democratic Decline: A Reassessment

By 2025, Indonesia has been a electorally democratic polity for over a quarter of a century since the collapse of the authoritarian New Order regime (1966-1998) in 1998. Yet, rather than consolidating democratic institutions, the country has entered a slow but discernible trajectory of democratic backsliding—what scholars of comparative politics term a process of “autocratization.” This democratic regression has been most visible during the latter years of President Joko Widodo’s administration and the state’s repressive handling of recent civil society protests in major Indonesian cities is one of its manifestation.

3.03.2026