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15 Seton Hall J. Dipl. & Int'l Rel. 95 (2014)
Is Indonesia's Democratization a Road Map for the Arab Spring

handle is hein.journals/whith15 and id is 93 raw text is: Is Indonesia's Democratization a Road Map for the Arab Spring? by Dr. Paul J. Carnegie Over the last three years, the Indonesian model has become an increasingly repeated mantra in media and policy circles.1 It seems to hold the promise of a road map for the nascent transitions taking place in the Arab world given the obstensible resonance the two situations have with one another. Simply stated, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country on the planet and in the decade since the downfall of Suharto, it has successfully-if not without difficulty-transitioned from authoritarian rule to functioning democracy. At the same time, initial concerns over Islamist ascendancy have proved largely unfounded. In fact, Indonesia accommodates a diversity of Islamic political expression within the framework of democratic electoral politics which helps to explain the recent interest. In regards to its parallels with the Arab Spring, what lessons can be drawn from Indonesia's democratic transformation? Scholars and academics must proceed with caution before holding up the Indonesian model as a general panacea. Several stark differences between the Indonesian transition and the events unfolding in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) exist and merit examination. The varying legacies of the past certainly make any democratic rearrangement vis-a-vis political power a complicated affair. Success in the MENA region will depend in large part on translating a momentum for change into representational capacity with the ability to yield meaningful reform over time. As such, the Indonesian modelmight be most useful in terms of the insight it can provide into the major hurdles these post-authoritarian states will face along their very uncertain path to democracy. BACKGROUND ON ISLAMIC POLITICAL PARTIES IN INDONESIA Indonesia's history, geography, and demographic make-up have led to a plurality of Islamic expression across the archipelago. One need only look at the size of Indonesia's two major socio-religious organizations to appreciate the influence of Islam in daily life. The traditionalist Sunni Nahdlatul Ulama (NU-Awakening of Ulama) boasts about 30 to 35 million members while the reformist Muhammadyah Dr. Paul J. Carnegie is Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam. He researches democratic transitions with a focus on Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and the MENA region. His work focuses on the complex role both political action and institutions play in post authoritarian settings. He is the author of The Road from Authoritarianism to Democraization in Indonesia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010) and taught previously in Australia, Egypt and the U.A.E. 95 Seton Hall Journal of Diplomag and International Relations

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