Ties and Tiers: Decentralisation and Ethno-Communal Mobilisation in Post-Suharto Indonesia

Abstract

Decentralisation of governance responsibilities to sub-national authorities has been one of the most significant trends in state-reform since the 1980s. Debate continues, however, regarding the consequences of the expansion of local/district government for ethno-communal relations. This study develops a strategic-relational theory of decentralisation and ethno-communal voter mobilisation, testing it in relation to electoral processes in two ethno-religiously diverse districts in Indonesia. It finds that in the context of city or district politics, outcomes of voter mobilisation can only be accounted for via the interaction between institutional incentives and candidates’ mobilisation of diverse personal, group and associational ties. This study has implications for analysing and theorising the impacts of decentralisation- especially the expansion of local and district government- upon patterns of ethno-communal mobilisation in other ethnically and religiously diverse societies undergoing transitions to democratic rule.