Indonesia's Search for Democracy

Since 1998, the transformation of Indonesia has led to far-reaching political and economic change: The democratization process introduced an amended constitution, multi-party and factional organization as well as participative procedures and administrative decentralization. A new understanding of the Indonesian civil society has evolved, the relationship between security forces (military and police) has been redefined, and focal topics have shifted to dealing with separatist movements, solving interethnic conflicts, and promoting good governance. Ongoing violations of human and minority rights, rather low anti-corruption performance and restrictions inhibiting the freedom of the press call for governmental action. This book investigates the opportunities and challenges of Indonesian reform initiatives in the many policy fields from various perspectives. The authors examine the obstacles faced by the government and the resulting challenges to implementing specific policies.