Page 23 - SCANDAL AND DEMOCRACY

8 Introduction

Phases of Transition
In the aftermath of authoritarian rule, a nation’s media—whether print, broadcast,
or digital—can contribute to institutionalizing both uncertainty and indeterminacy in
democratic contestation in ways that vary as a transition moves through diff erent
stages. For the purposes of this analysis, democratic transitions, Indonesia’s included,
can be broken roughly into three phases: (1) delegitimation and collapse of the rul-

ing regime; (2) a trial period of institutional change when confidence develops in the
rules, institutions, and indeterminacy of democratic contestation; and (3) a long-term
process of consolidation pulled between the reversibility of democratization and the
durability of democratic institutions. In Przeworski’s model, democratization moves
toward this end state of consolidation when political players, anticipating future con-
tests, invest not only in winning individual rounds but also in ensuring fairness in the
democratic process over the long term.
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Delegitimation and Collapse
As opposition forces organize in response to the excesses of authoritarian rule,
they spark, in the fi rst phase, a burgeoning of discontent that precedes protest, agita-
tion, and action. The many possible channels for disseminating critiques and organiz-
ing for action include the samizdat circulation of documents, as in the Soviet bloc,
and latter-day incarnations on social media, as in Egypt, or through the emergence
of an independent media, as in the Philippines under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Regardless of medium, such communication can help precipitate a transformation,
unsettling the staid predictability of the authoritarian status quo.
As Vicky Randall notes, when elements of the media, especially those considered
“alternative,” are able to foster a critical stance toward the regime, they help under-
mine its legitimacy. When waning legitimacy destabilizes the coalitions that have
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sustained the ruling order, the bolder of mainstream media outlets may also begin
airing dissenting views or revelations damaging to the regime. For some, this com-
munication may also provide authorization or affirmation for action. At a minimum,
whether through critical reporting or simply covering unfolding events, the media as
a whole highlight, and often encourage, new contestation over the right to rule.
In Indonesia during this phase, discussed in chapter 3 , all the major news outlets
eventually reported the economic crisis and consequent protests that hit the country in
1997. Alternative channels, such as nascent computer networks, also disseminated rev-
elations damaging to the regime and facilitated coordination among activists. While
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the media’s part in the regime’s collapse was complex and sometimes contradictory, in
the end, few outlets could avoid the crisis and demonstrations. Even coverage support-
ive of Suharto heightened awareness of new uncertainty emerging from changing power
relations among elites. While this uncertainty was not yet the “ruled open-endedness”
or “organized uncertainty” of Przeworski’s model, the media were still highlighting,
even normalizing, a departure from the predictability of an unchallenged regime.
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Trial Phase
In the second phase, political uncertainty tends to revolve around whether lead-
ers will support fair and open elections. There is a danger that media outlets might
be captured by actors with sectarian agendas, triggering a downward spiral into