Who stopped the strongman syndrome? Civil society and elections in the Philippines and Indonesia

• Main Authors: Calimbahin, Cleo Anne A., Jung, Eunsook
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Subjects: Civil society—Philippines; Civil society—Indonesia; Presidents—Philippines—Election; Presidents—Indonesia—Election; Philippines—Politics and government—1986-; Indonesia—Politics and government—20th century; Political Science
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/6397
• Institution: De La Salle University

What roles does civil society play in electoral politics? Can civil society organizations keep a potential dictator from being elected? This paper will examine two contrasting cases: the 2014 presidential election in Indonesia and the 2016 presidential election in the Philippines. In Indonesia, civil society organization mobilized voters, and were able to thwart former army general Prabowo Subianto’s victory despite his well-funded and highly organized campaigns. On the other hand, the Philippines, despite its long history of a strong and vibrant civil society, almost saw the return of a former dictator as vice-president and elected a strong handed local mayor as president. This paper analyzes what made Indonesian civil society able to mobilize against an authoritarian figure and what made Philippine civil society divided over a strongman. By examining the roles of civil society in the most recent elections in two democracies, we aim to understand (1) how civil society organizations viewed elections, (2) what factors shaped civil societies’ responses to presidential candidates and, more broadly, (3) how the relationships between state and society have changed in these two democracies.