This book examines the role of civil society in guarding Indonesia’s democracy, with a spotlight on the 2024 general elections. The 2024 election was characterized by the incumbent’s significant influence in shaping electoral outcomes, even prior to election day, including bureaucratic involvement aimed at favouring specific candidates aligned with the regime, thereby undermining procedural democratic norms. Within this context, this book considers how far civil society plays a role in safeguarding Indonesia’s democracy. This book is guided by two main considerations: the general picture of Indonesia’s democracy based on the 2024 general elections process, and the role of civil society in guarding the electoral process of the 2024 general elections. It looks at participation in electoral political competition vis-a-vis identity politics, such as affiliations with Islamic figures or leveraging Chinese ethnic identity, and the actions of Indonesian religious organizations such as Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, as well as, the role of women’s NGOs in ensuring implementation of the quota for women’s representation in the 2024 elections. It also illustrates how young Muslims, utilizing digital platforms and contemporary cultural movements, have rejuvenated Islamism into a dynamic and adaptable force that effectively responds to modern challenges while upholding democratic ideals, which are marked by inclusivity, justice, and civic engagement. The central finding, however, is that this broad civic action is undermined by fragmentation within an increasingly closed and transactional political system. Ultimately, the book concludes that this diversity within civil society, despite its challenges, represents the most distinctive opportunity for safeguarding and revitalizing Indonesian democracy beyond 2024.

Kurniawati Hastuti Dewi is a senior researcher at the Research Center for Politics, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia. Her research interests lie in the areas of gender and politics, women’s leadership, and civil society. She has been the founder and coordinator of the Gender and Politics Research Team at BRIN since 2015. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in politics from Diponegoro University (2000), a master’s degree in Asian Studies from Australian National University (2007), and a Doctoral Degree from Kyoto University (2012). Her doctoral dissertation was published as a book titled ‘Indonesian Women and Local Politics: Islam, Gender, and Networks in Post-Suharto Indonesia’ (Singapore: NUS Press and Kyoto University Press, 2015). She has worked on a wide range of gender and political issues, collaborating with women activists internationally and was elected the Secretary General of the Asian Association of Women’s Studies (AAWS) for the period 2020–2022.

Lidya Christin Sinaga is a researcher at the Research Centre for Politics, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN). Her research interests include Indonesia-China Relations and ethnic Chinese Indonesians. She obtained her master’s degree from the School of History and International Relations-Flinders University, Australia in 2016. She is an editor and a contributor to several academic books. Her recent edited books are Identitas Etnik Tionghoa di Tengah Arus Demokratisasi dan Globalisasi (Penerbit Buku KOMPAS, 2023); Potret Pemenuhan Hak Sipil dan Politik Etnik Tionghoa di Singkawang dan Tangerang (Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia, 2020), and Six Decades of Indonesia-China Relations: An Indonesian Perspective (SPRINGER, 2018).

Defbry Margiansyah is the junior researcher at the Research Center for Politics—National Research and Innovation Agency (Formerly: Indonesian Institute of Sciences). The author is part of the Religion and Politics Research Team at the Political Research/Research Centre, with research interests on democratization, political participation, and the politics of development. The researcher is an alumnus of the International Relations Study Program at Universitas Pasundan, Bandung, the Global Studies Program at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Germany), Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO) (Argentina), and Jawaharlal Nehru University (India).