Dave McRae, Robertus Robet
Guided by the literature on public sociology and the entry of civil society actors into the state, this paper analyses the increasing role of Indonesian academics in electoral politics. We assess both the impacts of their involvement on democratic reform, measured via election and policy outcomes, and on the academic profession itself. Academics merit separate study because of their dual status in Indonesia, as both civil servants and civil society members. As civil servants, academics face legislative prohibitions against their involvement in electoral politics, leading them to become involved on a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ basis. These entry circumstances strongly shape their strategies to exert influence and also exacerbate the costs of their political involvement. Nevertheless, we find no compelling case against the entry into electoral politics. Indonesian academics can claim some success in shaping the outcome of the 2014 presidential election, without incurring commensurate negative effects. © 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Asia Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia; Department of Sociology, Jakarta State University, Jakarta, Indonesia
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