Why is it difficult for Indonesia to get out of the category of flawed democracy?

The Global Democracy Index, including Indonesia, has declined year by year. The world, paralyzed by the Covid-19 pandemic, is suspected of providing an opportunity for oligarchs to strengthen their influence in government.

With such conditions, democracy will struggle to regain its ideal state without a leader who serves as an example. This is also hindered by leaders who emerge from dynastic circles.

The decline in the democracy index was indicated by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). EIU is an organization that provides analysis related to the development of countries, industries, and management, with over 75 years of experience.

The 2025 EIU report shows that the global democracy index for 2024 scored 5.17 out of a maximum scale of 10. This figure decreased from 2023, which was 5.23.

The downward trend has been ongoing since 2015, with an index of 5.55. A sharp decline occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the index figure in 2021 reaching 5.28.

This report states that the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the decline of freedom worldwide. Moreover, the results of the index in 2024 indicate a continued deterioration of democracy.

Of the total of 165 countries and two territories, only 25 countries practice full democracies. Authoritarian regimes are the most numerous, with 60 or 39.2 percent of the total countries.

Meanwhile, 46 countries (27.5 percent) experience flawed democracies, and 36 countries experience hybrid regimes. In this report, Indonesia is included in the category of flawed democracies with a score of 6.44. This figure places Indonesia in 59th position out of a total of 167 countries. This ranking has dropped ten levels compared to 2015. In fact, at that time, Indonesia was ranked 49th with a score of 7.03. Indonesia's position in the category of flawed democracies has also remained in the last decade.

Senior Researcher at the Political Research Center of the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Firman Noor, opined that the decline in the democracy index during the pandemic could occur due to the influence of oligarchy. These groups have taken the opportunity to strengthen their influence while the global economy has yet to recover.

The oligarchs in various countries, including Indonesia, continue to strengthen their positions, so that they can influence the policy-making process. This, continued Firman, is marked by political practices in many countries that prioritize exclusive interests.

"I think post-Covid-19 it has become problematic because it is accompanied by a weakening economy and that is an opportunity for oligarchy to enter. This makes it difficult for democracy to improve itself to reach an ideal condition," he said.

Senior politician I Wayan Sudirta also criticized the influence of oligarchy in government. He also saw a number of policies that were not in favor of the people which increasingly benefited the elite group.

"Oligarchs who do not defend the people must and often harm the country must be criticized. I have many notes related to how many laws reflect certain interests," said Wayan, who is currently a member of Commission III of the DPR from the PDI-P faction.

According to Wayan, democracy needs to be returned to the people and not just to certain groups. One way is by improving law enforcement in this country. Not only reforming law enforcement officers, but also strengthening democratic institutions.

"Where there is injustice, democracy will be disrupted and flawed. At that time, society will be in turmoil. So if you want democracy to work, realize law enforcement and justice," he explained.

However, this democratic improvement is still not visible when the country's leadership begins to change. In fact, the 2024 presidential election that won Prabowo Subianto was said to have entered the practice of dynasty politics.

The EIU report states that there are worrying developments in the Southeast Asian region that show a trend towards dynastic politics. The 7th President Joko Widodo is mentioned along with the political dynasty family of Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand and the political dynasty family in the Philippines, namely Ferdinand Marcos and Rodrigo Duterte.

The presidential election (Pilpres) in Indonesia in February 2024 is in the spotlight. EIU said Prabowo received tacit support from Jokowi. The advancement of Jokowi's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as Prabowo's running mate in the 2024 presidential election, is said to have come from a controversial ruling from the Constitutional Court.

According to Firman, Gibran's rise has indeed attracted attention. "Indonesia has made many other countries stunned. It was said that there was an effort to pass the president's son through constitutional changes. So, from there Indonesia began to attract attention in a negative sense," said Firman.

Political dynasties in the regions are also not much different. Firman stated that this has often happened and there is no need to doubt it. "No need to study it, it has been going on like that," he said.

The conditions related to political dynasties can at least be described from the data of politicians running in the 2024 Regional Head Elections (Pilkada). The results of a collaborative study between the Institute for Advanced Research (IFAR) of Atma Jaya University, the Election Corner of the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), and the UGM PolGov political and government research center, which was released last November, found that as many as 605 candidates with a dynasty political background participated in the regional election competition.

This number has almost doubled compared to the waves of simultaneous regional elections in 2017, 2018, and 2020. The number of dynasty political candidates in the three regional elections was 306 candidates.

The strength of the political dynasty is also seen from the members of the DPR/DPD for the 2024-2029 period. Of the total 732 members of the DPR/DPD, 285 people or 38.9 percent of them have family relations with public officials or national political figures.

The proportion of political kinship is almost the same as that of legislators for the 2019-2024 period, namely 38.4 percent, but increased by 7 percent compared to members of the DPR and DPD for the 2014-2019 period.

The problem is, this strengthening political dynasty is not seen as a big problem. Deputy Chairman of the Golkar Party Adies Kadir, for example, sees that everyone has the right to fill political positions from various backgrounds, including from families of officials or politicians.

However, Adies emphasized the capacity of the political figure. Not only professionalism in working, his capacity and performance in office are also considered compared to his origin and family.

"As long as they are qualified, have integrity, are capable, qualified, and also professional, all have the opportunity for that (political office). So, judging is not from whose lineage, this is the relationship with whom, but seen how the individual is," said Adies.

Wayan also stated that political dynasties are not necessarily bad things. However, he continued to emphasize that there is a process that must be followed and not violate the rules or even change the constitution.

"If someone appears solely because he is the child of an official, does not go through rules and cadreship, and is not elected because of his achievements. That is what is opposed. This condition weakens our democracy," said Wayan.

According to Adies, the index results need to be responded to with optimism. As a party that is currently part of the government, he stated that Golkar always tries to think positively and do real work.

"We are sure that Indonesia will become the largest country in the future. There is also a survey, Indonesia is ranked fourth in the world in the next 25 years. So, we have to think optimistically in that direction," he said.

But not only does it require optimism, Firman sees that this democratic improvement also requires a very complex operation. He said that the commitment of the government and political actors is very much needed to form a democratic political culture.

"The most important variable is democratic leadership. After that, other variables will follow and move towards democracy. All of that requires a strong commitment to building democracy in many dimensions," said Firman.