Popular Control and Effective Welfareism (PACER) describes the results of research that has been conducted for five years (2012-2017) on Wednesday 22 November 2017. “Towards a prosperous Democracy”, dissemination seminar of this research held in Auditorium FISIPOL UGM and followed by 251 participants . The final seminar consists of five main sessions, namely (1) Roundtable “Towards a Prosperous Democracy”; (2) Power Panel, Welfare, and Democracy (PWD): Local Politics in Democracy Frame; (3) PWD Panel entitled Welfare Regime in the Realization of Democratization in Indonesia; (4) In-Search of Balance (ISB) Panel: Welfare Governance and Inequality; (5) ISB Panel entitled Welfare and Ecology.
PWD and ISB are two sub-programs of PACER. PWD itself is based on DPP FISIPOL UGM, while Faculty of Cultural Sciences UGM and University of Agder coordinate ISB with four other faculties, namely Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Faculty of Law (FH), Faculty of Social and Political Sciences (FISIPOL) , and Faculty of Forestry UGM.
The seminar begins with a roundtable discussion session which further discusses the title of the seminar, namely “Towards a Prosperous Democracy”. Prof. Purwo Santoso as PWD Coordinator argues that the big agenda of PWD is trying to dismantle the anatomy of power which ultimately minimize the role of the people. He also highlighted campus neglect when discussing democracy that tends to lead to electoralistic democracy. “So that we produce are the characters that we invite to oppress us,” explained Purwo.
The results of a study published in a book titled “Politics of Citizenship in Indonesia” show that the space for citizenship in Indonesia is very narrow. “If democracy is to be continued, this is an empty land that must be strengthened, so that public control can be present in various forms,” explained Purwo.
Dr. Pudjo Semedi as the ISB coordinator explained that the growth of democracy in Indonesia seems to be accompanied by the growth of economic inequality. This is further discussed in the PWD Panel which reviews the welfare regime in democracy.
This panel discusses four researches prepared and presented by DPP academics and PWD teams. The researches are (1) Welfare Pluralism in Contemporary Indonesia by Wawan Masudi; (2) Corporate-based Welfare: Challenges and Dilemmas in Indonesia by Ashari Cahyo Edi, Ratnawati, and Desiana Rizka; (3) The Universal-Based Welfare Regime in Kulon Progo: A Case Study of Jamkesda by Desi Rahmawati and Mada Sukmajati; (4) Welfare Regime in the Context of Disaster: A Case Study of Sinabung and Merapi by Dati Fatimah and Minatun Zubaedah. Wawan Masudi reveals that the main findings of these researches are that there are many variations on the protection and promotion of social and economic regimes that not only state, but also society, market, and manifest in the context of contestation.
While the second PWD Panel session entitled “Local Politics in Democracy Frame” reviewed four studies compiled and presented by DPP academics, PWD and Combine Resource Institution. The researches reviewed are (1) Adat and Politic Articulation: Shifting of Indigenous Role and Its Implication for the Future of Local Democracy in Tana Toraja, North Lombok and Jayapura in Indonesia by Longgina Novadona Bayo; (2) Syncretic Democracy Regime: Dialectic of Modern Democracy with Traditional Institution in DIY by Nur Azizah; (3) Adat Revitalization in Democratization in North Lombok by Debbie Prabawati; and (4) Market Dominance in the Border Regime in Belu by Devy Dhian.
The latest PWD panel is widely reviewed on local customs and regimes which are then linked to democracy and reviewed in various research loci. Willy Purna Samadhi as PWD researcher and moderator in this panel mentioned that the important finding of the researches reviewed in this panel is that Indonesia has a diversity of local customs, traditions and regimes that affect local democracy in each region. He highlights the findings of Longgina which shows that there are five characteristics of the regime in Indonesia. “Policymakers should be aware that diversity exists before the national democracy,” he said. Willy also said that at this time what needs to be done is to wait for the attitude of policy makers and democracy designers in Indonesia, will they continue the design of democratization, which then raises issues such as dynastic politics and money politics.
Met on different occasions, PACER Coordinator and Dean of FISIPOL UGM, Dr. Erwan Purwanto, M.Si said, “We hope that the final seminar of the PACER project is able to ignite further discussions on research agenda and policy praxis to improve democratic life in Indonesia”. He also hopes democracy life in Indonesia is not only limited to open space of freedom, but also bring prosperity for the people.
Research conducted by PACER, mainly PWD able to break the construction of democracy that has been prevailing in Indonesia. These in-depth research can be a reference for DPP students in understanding the completion of democratization, as well as understanding the importance of widening citizenship space in realizing democracy based on public control. (Krisanti)