Religion and Money Politics in Indonesia: Fatwa, Pietism and Muslim Candidate Vote-Buying in the 2014 Elections

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Much scholarship exists examining the question of whether religious people follow the teachings of their faith. The findings of such studies vary markedly, with some concluding that religious belief can shape behaviour, while others find the faithful deviating from their religion's teachings in significant ways. This dissertation is a study of religious law, morality and political behaviour, specifically the willingness of Muslim legislative candidates to buy votes in Indonesian elections. The nexus between religion and vote buying is largely absent from the literature, a gap which this thesis seeks to fill.

I investigate if Islam plays a role in limiting money politics. My starting point is to examine the rulings of Islamic scholars (fatwa) on vote buying to establish whether Islamic law is interpreted as disapproving of or even forbidding the practice. I analyse the fatwa of Indonesia's most important Islamic organisations, as well as the opinions of leading preachers. In theory, these rulings provide the normative framework for Muslim behaviour. The thesis then studies the individual piety and political actions of Muslim candidates. My concern is to measure the avowed or lived pietism of Muslim candidates and then assess whether they follow the fatwa of pre-eminent Islamic authorities on vote buying. In effect, I want to know what role Islamic leaders are wanting their religious teachings to have and then find out if this has any impact. At a time when many scholars write about the growing Islamisation of Indonesian society, such a study on vote buying offers an interesting insight into the extent or limitations of religion's ability to influence public life, in this case electoral behaviour.

I use a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches. First, I conducted in-depth interviews with 60 legislative candidates in the 2014 general elections, as well as more than a dozen electoral brokers and 30 other informants, ranging from ordinary voters to intellectuals and election authorities in 13 districts and cities in Kalimantan and Java. Second, I conducted a survey in 2015 involving 237 Muslim candidates in Banjarmasin and South Hulu Sungai (South Kalimantan), Padang (West Sumatera), and Jember (East Java).

This dissertation finds a vast gap between the religious rulings on vote buying provided by leading Islamic authorities and the actual behaviour of Muslim candidates. Whereas most fatwa discourage or condemn vote buying, the overwhelming majority of my Muslim candidates engage in the practice. This dissertation also shows unexpected findings in both the moral acceptance of vote buying among Muslim candidates and their distribution of material inducements as a campaign strategy. One finding indicates that most Muslim candidates believe that vote buying is justified and that such an attitude is found across the spectrum of religiosity. Another finding shows that the majority of Muslim candidates use various forms of inducements. Importantly, those who score highly on religiosity are not immune to this tendency, as they tend to also use electoral inducements, especially ones with religious symbolism. Thus, for most religious candidates, the question is not whether to resort to money politics, but rather which type. Ultimately, I argue that religion is an unreliable and insignificant factor in combatting vote buying.

Nonetheless, the thesis warns that we should not leap to judgements that Muslim candidates who claim piety but also buy votes are either hypocritical or impious. Often, they have considered reasons for engaging in money politics and dislike the practice. Similarly, although the fatwa of Islamic scholars may be seen as ineffectual, their concern is primarily to provide moral and jurisprudential guidance, not black letter law. In reality, religiosity is neither neat nor clear cut in its impact. Show more