Bulletin

Issue: August 2005

Books

Understanding Indonesian Politics

Specialistin Indonesian politics, senior lecturer Dr Angus McIntyre, has published a book that helps Australians understand the history of the Indonesian presidency.

Dr McIntyre's interest in the region goes back to his undergraduate days, subsequent research in Indonesia in the 1960s and then his MA studies at Yale University, where he attempted to reconcile his field work with theories of political science.

Mindful of 'the irreducible importance of the individual actor in history', Dr McIntyre blends political biography and political history, placing Indonesia's presidents within local frameworks and the global biographical literature on political leaders.

The Indonesian Presidency shows how Indonesia's 1945 constitution provided first for the personal rule of presidents Sukarno and Soeharto and then facilitated the shift towards constitutional rule that marked the presidencies of B J Habibie, Abdurrahman Wahid, and Megawati Sukarnoputri.

The study elevates the personalities of Sukarno and Soeharto into key factors explaining the character of their respective 'Guided Democracy' and 'New Order' regimes and argues that in 1957 Sukarno began fashioning his system of personal rule, to the detriment of Indonesia's parliamentary democracy.

Another historical turning point was 1998, when rudimentary constitutional rule reappeared. The shift since, from personal to constitutional rule, has its personal counterpoint in the relationship between Megawati and her father – which makes Dr McIntyre's blend of history and biography an extremely useful tool for understanding the Indonesian presidency and modern Indonesian politics.

The Indonesian Presidency: From Personal toward Constitutional Rule (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.)