The empowerment of parliament in the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime : Indonesian experiences and problems

2018

This article presents the experiences and problems of the Indonesian parliament, or DPR (Dewan Perwakilan Rakyat), during the transition from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one, in 1999–2004. Despite empowerment through the amended constitution and political laws, the DPR did not significantly change its parliamentary procedure and practices. The problems in the DPR actually lie in its procedure. The DPR procedure and the parliamentary debates retain the authoritarian tradition that favours the executive government (president), encouraging small groups of commissions to take the decisions and to discuss parliamentary tasks outside the plenary session. Aspects of parliamentary proce…

Social Science Research in Southeast Asia : the Challenges of Studying Parliamentary Institutions

2019

This paper introduces the challenges of studying parliamentary institutions in Southeast Asia. My focus of research is in three countries’ institutions: national parliaments of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. While in Southeast Asia, it is widely known that studying issues of politics and institutions face challenges – compared to studying culture, for example, this view is arguably no longer valid, however with certainqualification.The comparison of parliamentary tradition between three countries – based on observation of the plenary session - reveals that the effectiveness of parliamentary works is related to parliamentary procedure, and even to the culture of work in the countries. Pa…

Political culture in the Indonesian Parliament : analyzing parliamentary debates on the regional parliaments 1999-2009

2015