Indonesia is a country that is inhabited by hundreds of ethnic groups with different geographical condition, natural resources and social culture. Regional decentralization and autonomy that is carried out in Indonesia is an acknowledgment of ethnic diversity (pluralism) to create unity and harmony (BhinekaTunggal Ika), to form social harmony and equal development with the framework of protecting national stability. This article argues on the urgency of political decentralization and regional autonomy in Indonesia through local perspectives by using political decentralization/local democracy model approach with the centrifugal style of authority and government decentralization and structural efficiency model approach with centripetal style.

Indonesia is a country that is inhabited by hundreds of ethnic groups with different geographical condition, natural resources and social culture. Regional decentralization and autonomy that is carried out in Indonesia is an acknowledgment of ethnic diversity (pluralism) to create unity and harmony (BhinekaTunggal Ika), to form social harmony and equal development with the framework of protecting national stability. This article argues on the urgency of political decentralization and regional autonomy in Indonesia through local perspectives by using political decentralization/local democracy model approach with the centrifugal style of authority and government decentralization and structural efficiency model approach with centripetal style.

The rise of sole candidates in various local head elections in Indonesia has been the subject of many scholarly critical analyses. Most of the analyses perceive the phenomenon as a symptom of incumbency advantages, weak electoral systems, and poor institutionalization of political parties. This article proposes a new argument with the family-based elite perspective controlling the sole candidates’ emergence process. We compared two regions in South Sulawesi province, explaining the political family networks that dominate the political competition by limiting candidature. The sole candidate elections can be understood by looking at family-based elite networks scattered in business networks, bureaucracy, political parties, aristocrats, and grassroots mass organizations. The families use an oligarchic elite network at the national level or a plural elite network at the grassroots level. The two types of family institutions are centralized and dispersed structures: Makassar has an oligarchy, while Gowa has relatively equal elite power. The family network’s power has closed or hijacked the electoral political competition, establishing control over local elections by creating monopolistic political networks. Political family control is essential in understanding the rise of sole candidate elections in political practices.

Indonesia is a country inhabited by hundreds of ethnic groups with different geographical, natural, social and cultural conditions. The decentralization and autonomy of the region in Indonesia is an acknowledgment of the diversity of ethnic groups to form unity (bhineka tunggal Ika), and create social harmony and development of order to maintain national stability through empowerment of local people by building roads from the outskirts. This article will discuss the importance of decentralized politics and regional autonomy in Indonesia with the approach of the Bugis ethnic perception towards decentralized political urgency and regional autonomy policy. The results of the study found that the majority of the Bugis ethnicity is more reviosyncratic than conservative or orthodox and pragmatic. Reviosionist means that the Bugis ethnicity in decentralization of power and authority over the region can still be carried out with respect to local values and local wisdom. Nevertheless, a change in the decentralized political model based on the values of local justice can be carried out gradually with the spirit of Nation unity and mutual development for the well-being of the people.