Expenditures on grants (Hibah) and sosial assistance (Bansos) which are included in the category of discretionary funds are very vulnerable to be used as campaign funds to gain popularity of incumbent couples. The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of an indication of abuse of discretionary funds in the APBD. This study used an interactive analysis model using three stages, namely; data condensation, presentation of concluding data, and verification. The results of this study indicated that the allocation of regional expenditures on grants and sosial assistance that carried out regional head election (Pemilukada) with the incumbent candidates is greater than before the election, which means there was the use of incumbent discretionary funds for their political interests. The allocation of regional discretionary funds that carried out the election with incumbent candidates was greater than the regions that do not implement the election. Increased of discretionary funds continue to occur despite the unhealthy / deficit regional financial condition. It coupled with the findings of the allocation of expenditure of goods distributed through 100 SKPD of Rp. 504,938,020,140,34 to the public. This was a strong indication that the incumbent was trying to keep providing the assistance to attract voters on the Pemilukada in 2015.

Intense competition in the regional head election (Pilkada) has implications for the increasing costs that candidates have to prepare to win the competition. The high cost in the regional head election makes many regional heads, when elected, commit political corruption and practices that are more adapted to the situation, namely the new styles of clientelism. This study aims to determine the shift in the relationship between political corruption and clientelism and to see new forms of clientelism. The approach used in this research was a literature study. Documents were selected using an application from the Publish or Perish database. The results of this study indicate that first, the power of money in politics in Indonesia creates a significant dependence on economic power, which influences a high level of political corruption. Second, there are two new styles of clientelism, including buying and selling votes and patronage in the bureaucracy. This paper concludes that the various modes of political corruption and new styles of clientelism that occur underline political vulnerabilities at the local level due to the broad elaboration of regional authority discretion.

Pasca disahkannya Undang-Undang Nomor 19 Tahun  2019 tentang Perubahan Kedua Atas Undang-Undang Nomor 30 Tahun 2002 tentang Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi (KPK), kedudukan KPK yang mulanya merupakan lembaga non pemerintah kini termasuk dalam rumpun cabang kekuasaan pemerintah (Auxiliary State Organ). Keseluruhan lembaga pemberantasan korupsi (diluar Kepolisian dan Kejaksaan) yang masih bertahan sampai saat ini hanyalah Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi yakni komisi independen yang diberi kewenangan pro justitia dalam melakukan penindakan tindak pidana korupsi selama ini bukan tanpa kritik. Dalam menjalankan tugas dan fungsinya (sebelum revisi Undang-Undang), para ahli banyak mengkritik mengenai kelembagaannya yang berstatus “independen” tersebut. Tujuan penulisan jurnal ini mengetahui apakah perubahan Undang-Undang Nomor 19 Tahun 2019 tentang Perubahan Kedua Atas Undang-Undang Nomor 30 Tahun 2002 tentang Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi telah melahirkan konsep lembaga negara independen bagi KPK. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian hukum normatif. Sementara itu, pendekatan yang dilakukan menggunakan pendekatan perundang-undangan (statute approach) serta pendekaatan konseptual (conceptual approach). Hasil dari penelitian ini menerangkan jika secara keseluruhan perubahan Undang-Undang KPK belum melahirkan konsep lembaga negara yang independen karena masih terdapatnya pengaturan pasal mengintervensi independensi kewenangan penindakan korupsi oleh KPK.

This article describes the impact of regional head elections held during the Covid-19 pandemic. It starts with an explanation of why elections are essential in a democracy. The approach used in this research is a literature study used primarily to explain the country's ability to hold elections, about how the risks to democracy are in the presence of external threats such as that experienced by the world with the spread of COVID-19. This study states that the pandemic is one factor that puts pressure on the global democracy index, Including Indonesia, in 2020. The incumbent's abuse of power in favoring himself as a candidate who will participate in the contestation includes the politicization of the Covid-19 social assistance incumbent candidate.

Political contestation in the context of the General Election is related to the importance of the role of constituents as the owner of sovereignty, especially to guarantee the quality of an election. However, in practice, the critical role of the constituents seems to be an irony when elites who fight as actors are trapped in a latent condition. That shows there is a misconception in interpreting the nature of power and how to get it. For the actors, the post-conflict local election is only a means to gain political power superficially and ignore other things. Therefore, cheating in political contestation also seems to be necessary for those who think it is rational.