. 339) True democracy for this old-school leader was the form of consensus practiced in the villages-- consensus guided by the trusted leader. In the countrys case it would be Sakarno. The Guided Democracy failed because large social groups, such as the poor, were left out. (Borthwick, p. 340) Suharto replaced Sukarno and lived under the same principles that Sukarno set in 1945monotheism, humanitarianism, unity, democracy, and justice. To solidify his democracy, Suharto reduced the number of parties to three: his own and two opposition parties. With this realignment he always during his 32-year rule controlled over 500 of the 1000 seats of the Collective Assembly. (CQ Researcher, p.637)Democracy did not flourish under the repressive regimes of Sukarno and Suharto, but their regimes did promote economic growth. The prime beneficiaries were the leaders wallets and those of their children and close associates. However, Indonesia as a whole became richer and these riches brought education, access to communication and media, and the prospect of an improved economic lifestyle for all people.Indonesia is the most corrupt of Asian countries and has the greatest potential for social unrest of the Asian countries surveyed (see appendix 2). Why is Indonesian democracy illiberal and why is there the slim chance for democratization in the near future? The unique democratic institutions their proponents have claimed is not equal or superior to the Western liberal system. (Hood, p.1) Can Americans condemn Suharto for lining the pockets of his children to the tune of billions? Yes, because part of the use of social capital, the networking and learning to work together, is based on trust. How can citizens trust the crooks of crony capitalism? Why did Indonesians let the cronies rule for so long? It has to do with social differences in Indonesiadifferences that are noticed between it and one of its closest Asian neighbor, the Philippines. These social di...
