Soldiers, Parties and Bureaucrats: illicit fund-raising in contemporary Indonesia

Date

2008

Authors

Mietzner, Marcus

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of London

Abstract

This article discusses illicit fund-raising efforts in Indonesia's armed forces, political parties and bureaucracy after the fall of Suharto in 1998. It argues that while personal self-enrichment remains a key motivation for military leaders, party politicians and bureaucrats to collect off-budget funds, there are also other crucial factors. Most importantly, all three sectors aim to control independent funds in order to maintain or strengthen their autonomy from other state institutions, such as parliamentary budget commissions, executive monitoring bodies or official auditing boards. By engaging in extensive self-financing practices, however, the three political actors undermine their own professionalism, functional effectiveness and internal coherence, and obstruct Indonesia's process of democratic consolidation.

Description

Keywords

Keywords: autonomy; bureaucracy; corruption; democracy; institutional framework; military intervention; party politics; political economy; state building; Asia; Eurasia; Indonesia; Southeast Asia Bureaucracy; Corruption; Democracy; Indonesia; Military; Parties

Citation

Source

South East Asia Research

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

License Rights

Restricted until

2037-12-31