While the ASEAN Charter of 2007 heralded an era of improved democracy, human rights protection and good governance in accordance with the rule of law, the reality on the ground tells a different story. While all of the trappings of a human rights mechanism are in place, the normative and...

This article argues that Southeast Asia is a region where uneven political development presents a theoretical challenge to the study of regime change and continuity in the academic field of comparative politics. Of the 11 political regimes, only Timor-Leste, the Philippines, and Indonesia can...

This paper evaluates the impact of competing “democratic” discourses on human rights protection in Southeast Asia. The authors identify three key discourses emanating from a set of national governmental policies, advocacy positions promoted by both global and local civil society and...

Book Review of the edited volume: Omkar Lal Shrestha and Aekapol Chongvilaivan (eds) (2013), Greater Mekong Subregion: From Geographical to Socio-economic Integration. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), ISBN: 978-981-4379-68-7, 270 pages

This paper discusses the accession of Myanmar to ASEAN and its effects on the emergence of fundamental political norms in ASEAN. The article first advances the theoretical idea of how accession demands towards Regional Organizations (ROs) open windows of opportunity for norm entrepreneurs to act...

Joko Widodo’s victory in the 2012 Jakarta Gubernatorial Election could be seen as a populist phenomenon. An outsider to Jakarta politics, Joko Widodo (Jokowi) beat the incumbent, Fauzi Bowo (Foke), who had received strong support from political parties. Using populism as an analytical tool,...

This paper evaluates the dynamics of ethnicity and politics in the 2007 and 2012 gubernatorial elections in Jakarta. Previous research has mostly emphasised the negative impact of ethnicity on politics in the reformasi era, particularly through ethnic polarisation. By closely evaluating the...

This special issue attempts to go beyond short essays and conduct a deeper analysis of Jakarta’s local politics. Some of the contributions show the peculiarities of Jakartan politics, while others identify similarities with other local politics in Indonesia.

The changes that occurred in the Jakarta 2012 election may be seen as a change in Indonesia’s social movements and election tradition. They marked a social movement with special characteristics; specifically, a ‘partisan’ movement, led by the successful Jokowi–Ahok ticket. The partisan...

The victory of Joko Widodo (‘Jokowi’) in Jakarta’s 2012 gubernatorial election has been described as a “triumph of democracy” as Joko and his running mate Basuki Tjahaja Purnama (‘Ahok’), a Chinese Christian, successfully won the election despite negative ethno-religious campaigns...