Electoral Cycle Reform and Democratic Representation after the Separation of National and Local Elections in Indonesia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30656/qf8jcr41Keywords:
electoral cycle reform, democratic representation, national and local elections, electoral timing, multi-level governanceAbstract
Problem: The five-ballot simultaneous election model implemented in Indonesia’s 2019 and 2024 elections combined the presidential, House of Representatives, Regional Representative Council, and regional legislative elections within a single electoral cycle. Although this arrangement simplified the electoral schedule, it also generated several problems, including the dominance of national political competition, the strong influence of the presidential election on legislative contests, and the limited visibility of local issues and candidates. The separation of national and local elections beginning with the 2029 electoral cycle creates an opportunity to reconsider the relationship between electoral timing and the quality of democratic representation.
Purpose: This study aims to analyze the implications of electoral cycle reform for democratic representation and to assess the extent to which the separation of national and local elections can strengthen the alignment between citizens’ interests, political issues, candidates, electoral mandates, and levels of government.
Methodology: This study employs a qualitative approach using document analysis and institutional-political analysis. Data were obtained from official election documents, Constitutional Court decisions concerning simultaneous election design, reports on the 2019 and 2024 elections, publications of the General Elections Commission, and scholarly literature on democratic representation, electoral timing, multi-level electoral politics, second-order elections, and coattail effects. The analysis was conducted by mapping changes in electoral cycle design, comparing the characteristics of representation under simultaneous and separated electoral models, and assessing agenda differentiation, the visibility of local candidates, the autonomy of political competition, and the clarity of electoral mandates.
Results/Findings: The study finds that simultaneous elections may produce representational overshadowing, in which national political competition reduces the visibility of local electoral contests and interests. Separating the electoral cycles has the potential to create representational differentiation by providing clearer spaces for the formation of national and local political mandates. However, temporal separation does not automatically improve the quality of representation. Its effectiveness depends on agenda differentiation, stronger local political competition, adequate candidate information, and greater internal party democracy. This study proposes the concept of multi-level representational alignment to describe a condition in which the level of government, political issues, candidates, voter preferences, and electoral mandates are more closely aligned.
Paper Type: Government studies research.
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