contestious dynamics of politics that occurred in the singular election

Abstract

This paper explores the contestious dynamics of politics that occurred in the Singular Election. We examine how in a feud of actors involved interacting dynamically with each other. The phenomenon of a single candidate is considered as an anomaly in the function of political parties which appears as a form of pragmatism in addressing pairs of candidates which are electable too strong. The strategy adopted by political parties in the lead-up to the elections by forming a coalition became the easiest strategy to achieve victory in a multiparty political system. There are two approaches in the perspective of the rational choice theory that can explain the reasons for political parties to do coalitions, namely office-seeking and policy-seeking. The characteristics of the office-seeking coalition model are fluid, not permanent. This justifies a practical political adage that states that in politics there are no eternal friends or enemies, there are eternal interests. In the context of democratic coalitions that are built with office-seeking motives are considered very detrimental to the constituents. Political parties are considered to deny the constituents' trust by changing the alignments of coalitions that have the same platform to coalitions that have different platforms.

How Local Democratic Backsliding? Single Candidate, Pragmatism and Uncompetitive Local Head Election in Indonesia

“…The existence of these figures and elite groups on the one hand will maintain the internal stability of the party, but on the other hand, it also plays a significant role in encouraging the birth of a centralized party governance model. Centralized party governance and various pragmatic decisions have given birth to many undemocratic political practice phenomena, one of which is the emergence of single candidates in political contestation in Indonesia (Ekowati, 2019;Lewerissa et al, 2021;Rini, 2016;Romli, 2018;Rosanti, 2020). The rise of local head elections with a single candidate will gradually declining democracy, in a multi-party political order (Prianto et.…”

“…Political coalitions at the nomination stage are more tactical and based on vested interests. Pragmatism is political behavior that is adjusted to practical goals rather than ideological goals (Bakker, 2021;Lewerissa et al, 2021). This pragmatism has become more prevalent along with the strong ambition to remain in the circle of power or government.…”