The Sydney Southeast Asia Centre (SSEAC) of the University of Sydney will organize a webinar titled “Assailing accountability: Executive aggrandisement under the Jokowi administration” which will be held on July 1, 2021, at 5:00 pm (Sydney Time).
Executive aggrandizement is among the most widespread modes of democratic backsliding in the post-Cold War era. It occurs when elected governments weaken democracy “from within” by eroding accountability mechanisms – both formal and informal – that are designed to check the accumulation and exercise of executive power.
In this seminar, Mr. Thomas Power argues that at the heart of Indonesia’s contemporary democratic decline is a concerted effort by the incumbent government to accrue and wield power in anti-democratic ways. The Joko Widodo (Jokowi) presidency has overseen the coercive deployment of law enforcement agencies and regulatory powers to restrict criticism of the administration and curtail opposition activity. The national executive has engaged in the partisan strong-arming of opposition parties and subnational administrations; assaulted the autonomous Corruption Eradication Commission; and cracked down on government critics and popular democratic protest using an increasingly authoritarian toolkit. Taken in sum, these measures have stripped away reserves of independent political power and hastened Indonesia’s slide into deepening illiberalism.
To register for the event, click here.