TY - JOUR
T1 - Village head elections in Java: Money politics and brokerage in the remaking of Indonesia's rural elite
AU - Aspinall, Edward
AU - Rohman, Noor
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - To explore how democratisation is transforming Indonesia's rural elite, we examine two village head elections in Central Java. Despite the competitiveness of these elections, the campaigning modes employed by candidates, especially vote buying, points to elite continuity, because only wealthy villagers can compete for office. Moreover, links with higher state officials remain important for village elites, allowing them to win political support by obtaining projects from local government. However, rather than being incorporated as subordinates in a bureaucratic hierarchy as during authoritarian rule, village elites are now true rural brokers, exercising considerable leverage in their relations with the state.
AB - To explore how democratisation is transforming Indonesia's rural elite, we examine two village head elections in Central Java. Despite the competitiveness of these elections, the campaigning modes employed by candidates, especially vote buying, points to elite continuity, because only wealthy villagers can compete for office. Moreover, links with higher state officials remain important for village elites, allowing them to win political support by obtaining projects from local government. However, rather than being incorporated as subordinates in a bureaucratic hierarchy as during authoritarian rule, village elites are now true rural brokers, exercising considerable leverage in their relations with the state.
U2 - 10.1017/S0022463416000461
DO - 10.1017/S0022463416000461
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-4634
VL - 48
SP - 31
EP - 52
JO - Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
JF - Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
IS - 1
ER -