Comparison of Political Dynasty in Indonesia and the United States

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the research is to photograph political dynasties that occur in democratic countries by taking the examples of Indonesia and America. Methods: The issue in this article is Political Dynasty in democratic countries. Political dynasties are built into a country's constitutional system. Its existence often triggers debate in societies that are studying ideal democracy. Political dynasties are considered to be the product of a political strategy to achieve victory. Results and Conclusion: The research results show that the emergence of political dynasties is influenced by the actions of political elites who tend to pass on their positions of political power to the next generation or below. This happens because of the tendency to maintain power. Another reason is to continue the program that was initiated previously. Research implications: Comparing political dynasties in Indonesia with the United States, the Indonesian state has a tendency to emerge random lytop down while in the United States it appears gradually bottom up. Originality/value: In the above context, it is hoped that political elites will prioritize political processes and ethics in cadre formation.

Full text

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RGSA – Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental
ISSN: 1981-982X
Data de submissão: 02/10/2023
Data de aceite: 02/01/2024
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v18n4-016
Organização: Comitê Científico Interinstitucional
Editora Chefe: Christian Luiz da Silva
Avaliação: Double Blind Review pelo SEER/OJS
COMPARISON OF POLITICAL DYNASTY IN INDONESIA AND THE
UNITED STATES
Andina Elok Puri Maharani
1
Arga Baskara
2
Pujiyono Suwadi
3
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The aim of the research is to photograph political dynasties that occur in democratic countries by taking
the examples of Indonesia and America.
Methods: The issue in this article is Political Dynasty in democratic countries. Political dynasties are built into a
country's constitutional system. Its existence often triggers debate in societies that are studying ideal democracy.
Political dynasties are considered to be the product of a political strategy to achieve victory.
Results and Conclusion: The research results show that the emergence of political dynasties is influenced by the
actions of political elites who tend to pass on their positions of political power to the next generation or below.
This happens because of the tendency to maintain power. Another reason is to continue the program that was
initiated previously.
Research implications: Comparing political dynasties in Indonesia with the United States, the Indonesian state
has a tendency to emerge random lytop down while in the United States it appears gradually bottom up.
Originality/value: In the above context, it is hoped that political elites will prioritize political processes and ethics
in cadre formation.
Keywords: Tendency, Political Dynasty, Comparison, Democratic, Political Power.
COMPARAÇÃO DA DINASTIA POLÍTICA NA INDONÉSIA E NOS ESTADOS UNIDOS
RESUMO
Objetivo: O objetivo da pesquisa é fotografar dinastias políticas que ocorrem em países democráticos tomando
como exemplo a Indonésia e a América.
Métodos: O tema deste artigo é Dinastia Política em países democráticos. As dinastias políticas estão integradas
no sistema constitucional de um país. A sua existência desencadeia frequentemente debates em sociedades que
estudam a democracia ideal. As dinastias políticas são consideradas o produto de uma estratégia política para
alcançar a vitória.
Resultados e Conclusão: Os resultados da investigação mostram que o surgimento de dinastias políticas é
influenciado pelas ações das elites políticas que tendem a transmitir as suas posições de poder político à geração
seguinte ou abaixo. Isso acontece por causa da tendência de manter o poder. Outro motivo é dar continuidade ao
programa iniciado anteriormente.
1
Ph.D. Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia, E-mail: andinaelok@staff.uns.ac.id
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6472-9462
2
Doctoral, Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia, E-mail: arga.baskara25@gmail.com
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7402-2284
3
Scholar, Faculty of Law, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia, E-mail: pujifhuns@staff.uns.ac.id
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5971-2446

Comparison of Political Dynasty in Indonesia and the United States
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Implicações da investigação: Comparando as dinastias políticas na Indonésia com os Estados Unidos, o Estado
indonésio tem uma tendência a emergir aleatoriamente de cima para baixo, enquanto nos Estados Unidos aparece
gradualmente de baixo para cima.
Originalidade/valor: No contexto acima, espera-se que as elites políticas priorizem os processos políticos e a
ética na formação de quadros.
Palavras-chave: Tendência, Dinastia Política, Comparação, Democrático, Poder Político.
RGSA adota a Licença de Atribuição CC BY do Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
1 INTRODUCTION
Political dynasty is an issue that adorns every democratic regime. Public attention to this
issue is still large because in reality this phenomenon is often a winning strategy to gain power.
There are concerns that the political class could become hereditary, if not regulated by law. The
difficulty in studying hereditary politics lies in determining what part of the dynastic balance
can be attributed to voters' preferences for this type of politician, and what part can be attributed
to political strategies that will of course depend on the electoral environment (Van Coppenolle,
2014). Political dynasties are generally a form of monopoly of political power and the holding
of public office by politicians is largely based on family relationships and political mechanisms
that allow subnational dynasty politicians to maintain and expand power. The existence of
political dynasties in democratic societies, especially in democracies that are consolidating, has
sparked debate among pro-democracy activists, scholars and policy makers. In many cases,
activists, political experts, politicians and intellectuals accuse political dynasties of being a
stumbling block to the consolidation of democracy, an erosion of the quality of democracy, a
source of corruption, a root cause of underdeveloped development, and an obstacle to reformist
movements in their ability to hold office (Dedi, 2022). The existence of political dynasties in
the public sphere has given rise to anti-dynasty laws to minimize the occurrence of political
dynasties. However, this action actually reaped controversy because it conflicted with
democratic values and ultimately was not realized. Developed and developing countries also
often practice this dynastic politics with their own variants. A comparative study is needed to
find out what practices occur in other countries. This discussion will discuss why political
dynasties occur, as well as review how dynastic politics compare in Indonesia and America?
2 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
2.1 Factors that encourage the emergence of political dynasties
Democracy provides opportunities for everyone to gain equal access to resources to
improve their standard of living. Democracy encourages the government to be responsive to
people's preferences(Ahan, 2010). However, democracy when it is mixed with a dynastic
political system has become something that deserves to be monitored in practice. The reason
is, according to Marcus Mietzner, the practice of a government that focuses on dynastic politics
is a deviation from the democratic system so that it can be interpreted as an unhealthy moderate
democracy(Alim, 2011). In a political context, dynastic actors carry out what is called
“institutional operation”, namely regulating the rules or regulations within the institution in

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such a way. This means that they are able to influence and change the way democratic
institutions work to support the continuity of their political dynasty (Kenawas, 2023).
Figure 1: Political dynasty
Source: Prepared by the author (2023)
The occurrence of dynastic politics in a country's state administration will make it easier
to gain power through previous family experience. Thus, the struggle for power is relatively
easy because of the existence of hereditary positions(Rahma, 2022). In circumstances like this
it is certainly contrary to democratic values. Because, having strategic political positions from
generation to generation will have an impact on family and personal interests, not those based
on the general public. Then, in terms of political recruitment, it will be carried out behind closed
doors with the position being filled by family members.
Dynastic politics carries a reference based on descent and blood which gives rise to
power, including the family, to maintain its power. For a ruler to create strong political stability,
he must be able to maintain power as long as possible. Thus, to achieve these ideals, structured
strategic practices are needed, namely by appointing family members from generation to
generation to occupy positions of office so that they can easily be given instructions as desired
by the previous ruler (Putra, 2023). In building dynastic politics, charisma cannot be separated
from the first person who leads. This situation is an encouragement for public confidence to
have more confidence in its derivatives because they are considered to have inherited this
potential, even though the quality has not been proven.
For a political family whose position is weaker, it will be profitable for a political family
that is stronger because it will guarantee the existence of the weak political family. Political
dynasties are a negative access to the birth of regional autonomy which creates a democratic
situation that is hijacked by the circulation of core genealogical and non-genealogical
relationships, based on familial relations which have an interest in the continuity of family
power. This had an impact on elite relatives, thereby creating political dynasties. Political
dynasties act as ruling elites who have patronage relationships with various parties, especially
informal figures who have sociocultural and socio-political influence in society, who have a
contribution to the continuity of existing political dynasties.
Political
Dynasty
Political
parties
Public
Legislative
members
Public policy
monitoring
agency
Non-
governmental
organization

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Figure 2: The continuity of existing political dynasties
Source: https://buletin.k-pin.org/index.php/arsip-artikel/979-dinasti-politik-pejabat-daerah-rawan-korupsi
Wisdom in the practice of family politics becomes a kind of mantra that can change
formal relationships into personal ones. In politics, power is needed to support and ensure the
progress of political decisions in public life. Dynasties in politics can survive because the people
within the dynasty circle have great abilities and resources. There are several factors that make
a dynasty survive, such as political party consolidation, project consolidation, political
consolidation and consolidation, the basics of the organization are considered close to society.
The occurrence of dynastic politics reflects that leader from the results of general
elections at both regional and central levels, who are currently in office position their family
members and relatives to serve as replacements or as next successors, by placing family
members and relatives in strategic positions in government. This condition shows that dynastic
politics will have an unfavorable impact on the government system if its practice continues to
be maintained because it prioritizes the regeneration of power in order to perpetuate power
based on family, class and kinship relationships(Rajiv et al., 2017). Seeing this reality, political
influence provides great strength in a democratic system (Dawood, 2015).
The emergence of political dynasties is influenced by the actions of political elites who
tend to pass on their positions of political power to the next generation or below. This process
of inheriting political power occurs through open political positions. In another context it is
explained that political dynasties can continue to develop or stop depending on the actions of
the next generation. These profits can be used to maintain and continue the family's political
power (Saputra & Emovwodo, 2022).
Dynastic politics can also be seen flowing through positions, namely the occurrence of
several strategic positions in government being held by a series of family members for
generations. This condition certainly does not meet the party's ideal principles because political
parties prioritize popularity as a bridge to victory so that their cadres are able to occupy
government seats and the political party has a strong name (Melo & de Lima, 2023).
The main reason behind the success of dynastic politicians is their “brand name
advantage”. The prominence of dynasty brand names is not only beneficial for attracting voters,
but can also help political dynasties to occupy small positions in their party organizations, and
their surnames provide wider access to financial contributors to their political campaigns.
Dynastic politics also has a greater chance of gaining support from traditional informal groups
that previously supported their predecessors(Stokes, 1999). In this case the effort to achieve an
identification of the people with one part can be incarnated by a leader and his followers as the
essence of representative democracy (Urbinati, 2019).

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2.2 Comparison of Dynastic Politics in Indonesia and America
The main cause of the emergence of political dynasties, especially in young democracies
like Indonesia, is the weak institutionalization of political parties (Saputra et al., 2023)Viewed
from this perspective, local political parties appear to have failed because they were unable to
rally the interests of their constituents and nominate alternative leaders. Therefore, it is possible
for dynastic families to occupy political party structures and weaken public participation in the
political process. It is not surprising that political dynasties can emerge, because political parties
are the main vehicle in liberal democracy(Mariana & Husin, 2017).
The practice of political dynasties that develop in Indonesia tends to occur in a top-down
manner, that is, when a political figure comes to power, he becomes a way for his hereditary
children to come to power. During the reform period in Indonesia, political dynasties continued
to occur. It can be seen that the practice of political dynasties in Indonesia has existed
before(Pujiyono et al., 2017). The embryos metamorphose, grow and develop in the reform era
because democracy is unable to break the chain of past values which are a prerequisite for the
growth and development of democratic values as a whole. Things that are currently in the public
spotlight are the families of state officials who simultaneously served when their regime was in
power(Pati et al., 2021). The characteristics of political dynasties in developing countries tend
to be influenced by culture or traditions, inherited old values such as feudalism, patrimonialism,
and/or patron-client relationships, resulting in a tree of power whose branches and twigs are
controlled by certain parties (Kenawas, 2015).
Meanwhile, talking about political dynasties in the United States, there appears to be a
bottom-up tendency. The emergence of a political dynasty through cadre formation that can be
seen by the public. From below you can see the struggle of the candidates or candidates in the
cadre to become leaders in the future (Pujiyono et al., 2017). In the United States there are two
dynasties that are well known and have a strong influence in American politics, such as
Kennedy, Bush and Clinton. In the United States, the phenomenon of dynastic politics in
modern democratic politics is related to the electability of candidates based on their level of
education and political experience. This condition in the United States became the ideal
condition for kinship politics or family politics which was later termed political dynasty. This
brings about special changes in public opinion and certain changes in the Laws, new principles
for those who govern and certain habits for those who are governed (Saputra et al., 2021).
In the United States there is political kinship between Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton,
George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, then the Kennedy family. The basic difference, apart
from the political system, is also the personality of each candidate, generally they come from
politically educated families. Their process in politics has gone through a very long process
(Waluyo & Pujiyono, 2017).
Dynastic politics in the United States is encouraged by the children of old elite families
to continue to hold power inherited “democratically” by their predecessors. In such a pattern,
adjustments to modern democratic ethics are carried out by preparing the children concerned in
the education system and political recruitment from an early age. So, if this is implemented, its
emergence will not be due to blood and family factors, but rather due to reasonable and rational
political factors (Suu & Tung, 2023).
When compared with Indonesia, the context of the American dynasty was born with a
different mechanism. Especially regarding the role of political parties in determining
nominations. We can call dynastic politics in the United States as political mentorship (Pujiyono
et al., 2020). Meanwhile, political parties in Indonesia still need to learn to develop cadres that
can produce the best figures. Indonesia adheres to a parochial political culture on the one hand
and a participant political culture on the other. The attitude of primordialism is still deeply
rooted in Indonesian society and paternalism is still strong in Indonesian political culture

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(Suryo, 2015). Meanwhile, political culture in the United States has a tendency to adopt
participant political culture (Suwadi et al., 2022).The participant's political culture is a political
culture at a higher level than the subject's political culture. In the United States, every individual
understands that he is a citizen who has a number of rights and obligations. Apart from that,
these elements can influence the course of state politics.
3 CONCLUSION
The trigger factors for political dynasties are the tendency to maintain power and the
desire to continue unfinished government programs. Dynastic politics carries a reference based
on descent and blood which gives rise to power, including the family, to maintain its power.
This process of inheriting political power occurs through open political positions. If the dynastic
political system continues to be perpetuated, it is feared that this will result in delays in the
emergence of the best political cadres and no opportunity for others to also be able to dedicate
themselves through their capacities and abilities. Dynastic politics also occurs because of the
desire to prioritize popularity as a bridge to victory so that its cadres are able to occupy
government seats and the political party has a strong name.
Political dynasties do not only occur in developing countries, but also in developed
countries. Talking about the comparison of the practices of political dynasties in Indonesia and
the United States, both have different political cultures. The characteristics of political dynasties
in developing countries such as Indonesia tend to be influenced by the culture or traditions of
old inherited values such as feudalism, patrimonialism, and/or patron-client relationships,
resulting in a tree of power whose branches and twigs are controlled by certain parties. Political
dynasties in Indonesia are still top down. Political parties in Indonesia still need to learn a lot
about good cadre formation so as to produce superior political figures. Meanwhile, in the United
States it appears more mature by implementing a bottom-up nature in its political dynasty with
a stronger cadre system. In such a pattern, adjustments to modern democratic ethics are carried
out by preparing the children concerned in the education system and political recruitment from
an early age so that their emergence comes from politically educated families.
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