DPRD Based Regional Head Elections and the Problem of Elite Capture: A Constitutional Institutional Design Analysis and a Reform Agenda for Direct Local Elections (Pilkada Langsung)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31941/pj.v25i1.6930Keywords:
local executive elections, popular sovereignty, accountability, constitutional designAbstract
Proposals to return the election of provincial and municipal executives to local legislatures (DPRD) repeatedly resurface in Indonesia, often justified by high campaign costs, vote-buying, and electoral conflict in direct local elections (pilkada langsung). Yet replacing direct elections with DPRD based selection raises serious constitutional and institutional design concerns: executive mandates shift from citizens to elite bargaining, vertical accountability weakens, and the risks of elite capture and local cartelization increase. This article rejects DPRD based local executive elections by developing a “constitutional consistency test” grounded in six indicators: popular sovereignty, accountability, integrity, openness, governmental effectiveness, and constitutional safeguards. The research problems are: (1) what constitutional foundations and normative consequences would follow if local executives were elected through the DPRD; and (2) how such a model would affect institutional risks (transactional politics, oligarchic capture), and what constitutionally sound alternatives can improve direct elections without abolishing them. Using doctrinal legal research with statutory, conceptual, historical, limited comparative, and constitutional court case approaches, the article argues that DPRD based election would undermine democratic legitimacy and sever citizen executive accountability chains in the post-Reformasi constitutional order. Cost-control objectives are better pursued through targeted reforms in campaign finance regulation, transparency, ethics enforcement, and strengthened oversight within the direct election framework
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Akmal, D. U., Kusnandar, M. I., & Muin, F. (2025). Protecting Indigenous Peoples’ Constitutional Rights through Legal Formation. Jurnal Konstitusi, 22(1), 66–87. https://doi.org/10.31078/jk2214
Al Izzati, R., Dartanto, T., Suryadarma, D., & Suryahadi, A. (2024). Direct Elections and Trust in State and Political Institutions: Evidence from Indonesia’s Election Reform. European Journal of Political Economy, 85, 102572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2024.102572
Arafat, M. (2023). The Intervention of Oligarchy in the Indonesian Legislative Process. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911231159395
Aspinall, E., & Berenschot, W. (2019). Democracy for Sale: Elections, Clientelism, and the State in Indonesia. Cornell University Press.
Behn, R. D. (2001). Rethinking Democratic Accountability. Brookings Institution Press.
Burhanuddin Muhtadi. (2019). Vote Buying in Indonesia: The Mechanics of Electoral Bribery. Palgrave Macmillan, 6, 171–207.
Chandra, Y. (2024). Assessing the Impact of Decentralization on the Quality of Indonesian Democracy. Global Strategis, 18(2), 409–430. https://doi.org/10.20473/jgs.18.2.2024.409-430
Dahl, R. A. (1971). Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. Yale University Press.
de Abreu Duarte, F., De Gregorio, G., & Golia, A. (2023). Perspectives on digital constitutionalism. In Research handbook on law and technology (pp. 315–329). Edward Elgar Publishing.
De Gregorio, G. (2022). Digital constitutionalism in Europe: Reframing rights and powers in the algorithmic society. Cambridge University Press.
De Gregorio, G., & Radu, R. (2022). Digital constitutionalism in the new era of Internet governance. International Journal of Law and Information Technology, 30(1), 68–87.
Efendi, M. A. F., Muhtadi, M., & Saleh, A. (2023). Positive legislature decisions by the Constitutional Court. Jurnal Konstitusi, 20(4), 622–639. https://doi.org/10.31078/jk2044
Faisyah, N., Ali, M., & Susmayanti, R. (2025). Constitutional Parameters of Judicial Activism in the Indonesian Constitutional Court. International Journal of Business, Law, and Education, 6(1), 724–738. https://doi.org/10.56442/ijble.v6i1.1073
Hermanto, A. B., & Riyadi, B. S. (2020). Constitutional Law on The Discretionary of Prosecutor ’ s Power Against Abuse of Power Implications of Corruption Culture in The Prosecutor ’ s Office Republic of Indonesia. 16, 763–772.
Huroiroh, E. (2025). Implications of Constitutional Court Decision Number 135 / PUU- XXII / 2024 on the Separation of DPR and DPRD Elections on the Electoral System in Indonesia. Justitia Jurnal Hukum, 9(135), 143–161. https://doi.org/10.36501/justitia.v1i2.143
Indonesia. (2014a). Undang-Undang Nomor 23 Tahun 2014 tentang Pemerintahan Daerah (sebagaimana telah diubah).
Indonesia, M. K. R. (2013). Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 97/PUU-XI/2013.
Indonesia, M. K. R. (2014b). Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 98/PUU-XII/2014.
Indonesia, M. K. R. (2015). Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 33/PUU-XIII/2015.
Indonesia, M. K. R. (2022). Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi Nomor 85/PUU-XX/2022.
Kenawas, Y. C. (2023). The Irony of Indonesia’s Democracy: The Rise of Dynastic Politics in the Post-Suharto Era. Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 8(3), 748–764. https://doi.org/10.1177/20578911231195970
Lewis, B. D., Nguyen, H. T. M., & Hendrawan, A. (2020). Political Accountability and Public Service Delivery in Decentralized Indonesia: Incumbency Advantage and the Performance of Second Term Mayors. European Journal of Political Economy, 64, 101910. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2020.101910
Marzuki, M. (2017). Penelitian Hukum: Edisi Revisi. Prenada Media.
Moonti, R. M., Kadir, Y., Bunga, M., & Halfaoui, A. (2025). Living Constitution in Islamic Constitutional Law: A Comparative Study of Gorontalo Customary Constitutional Law in Majority and Minority Enclave Contexts. Jurnal Ilmiah Al-Syir’ah, 23(2), 339–371. https://doi.org/10.30984/jis.v23i2.3566
Noor, F., Siregar, S. N., Hanafi, R. I., & Sepriwasa, D. (2021). The Implementation of Direct Local Election (Pilkada) and Money Politics Tendencies: The Current Indonesian Case. Politik Indonesia: Indonesian Political Science Review, 6(2), 227–246. https://doi.org/10.15294/ipsr.v6i2.31438
O’Donnell, G. (1998). Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies. Journal of Democracy, 9(3), 112–126. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.1998.0051
PARTLETT, W. (2021). Russia’s 2020 Constitutional Amendments: A Comparative Analysis. Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, 23, 311–342. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/cel.2021.7
Pitkin, H. F. (1967). The Concept of Representation. University of California Press.
Rahmawati, A. D., & Wardana, D. J. (2025). Constitutional Guarantees of the Right to Privacy of Personal Data of Citizens in the Era of Government Digitalization. Journal of Law, Politic and Humanities, 6(2), 1052–1063.
Ranchordás, S. (2024). The invisible citizen in the digital state: administrative law meets digital constitutionalism. In European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2023: Constitutional Law in the Digital Era (pp. 15–40). Springer.
Slater, D. (2018). Party Cartelization, Indonesian-Style: Presidential Power-Sharing and the Contingency of Democratic Opposition. Journal of East Asian Studies, 18(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2017.26
Teubner, G., & Golia Jr, A. (2023). Societal constitutionalism in the digital world: an introduction. Ind. J. Global Legal Stud., 30, 1.
Yanti, M., Malinda, F., & Tamsyah, I. (2023). Why Does Female Voters Prefer Vote Buying in Local Head Elections? Politika: Jurnal Ilmu Politik, 14(1), 107–122. https://doi.org/10.14710/politika.14.1.2023.107-122
Zainuddin, Z. (2021). Right To Own Land By The State In The Frame Of Constitutional Law. Randwick International Of Social Science Journal, 2(2), 46–57. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.47175/rissj.v2i2.214
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