In July 2009, more than 150 million Indonesians will be eligible to vote in their country's fourth presidential elections since 1998. This is a remarkable achievement for a country that for two generations knew only authoritarian rule.
In the 10 short years since that rule ended, democratic rights hitherto unknown to most Indonesians have become ingrained in the country's psyche, so much so that Indonesia is now presented as the world's third-largest democracy, behind India and the United States.
Despite its advances, Indonesia's democratisation cannot be taken for granted. Corruption remains rife. Rising oil and food prices have hit hardest the more than 40 per cent of Indonesians who live on less than $2 a day. In May, violent confrontations laced with dangerous political undertones took place between youths linked to different political parties, which does not augur well in the lead-up to next year's elections. It is not surprising then that many of Indonesia's foremost democratic reformers have warned that democracy in Indonesia is in fact failing.
However, conclusions on Indonesia's democratic development may need to be more nuanced, as demonstrated by a recent opinion poll. In June, 2150 Indonesians were asked by Lembaga Survey Indonesia, one of the country's most reputable polling firms, what they thought of their democracy and the role of outsiders in supporting their democracy.
The poll showed that 74 per cent of Indonesians still think that democracy remains the best form of government and that 68 per cent of Indonesians feel that Indonesia is already a democracy, even if it could use improvement.
Moreover, while 52 per cent claimed that a democracy should be left to improve on its own without outside support, 48 per cent of Indonesians felt that a country can use international assistance to improve its democracy. When asked about Indonesia specifically, 43 per cent of Indonesians actually welcomed the help of other countries to improve their democracy compared with 33 per cent who did not see a role for outsiders.
Finally, when asked which countries or institutions they would like to assist Indonesia's democracy, the United States was respondents' third preferred choice (15 per cent), compared with ''a Muslim country'' (33 per cent ) and the United Nations (23 per cent). Australia was well down the list, selected by 2 per cent of respondents.
The poll's results are both heartening and revealing: this was the first time that a survey in Indonesia or anywhere had asked what people thought of foreigners working on their democracy.
The idea that a country's democracy can improve with outside help is not new. Democracy assistance is now an accepted, if at times controversial, part of international cooperation initiatives supported by donor countries. Donors spend billions of dollars each year to strengthen democratic institutions such as parliaments, civil society organisations, or electoral commissions, in developing countries around the world. The Australian Government is actually in the process of re-examining how it supports democracy assistance activities.
In all the deliberations over how Australia or other donors support democracy, the individuals meant to benefit from this assistance, namely the citizens in those countries where these programs are implemented, are rarely consulted. This is not only ironic, but it threatens to condemn such initiatives to failure. Democracy needs to be built from the ground up and led by the people in the countries where it is being established.
Observers of democracy assistance initiatives have in fact warned of a public backlash against programs led from the outside. This backlash stems mainly from the perceived double standards of some donors, who are seen to support democracy in some countries while turning a blind eye to friendly authoritarian regimes in other countries.
Despite this warning, very little is actually known about the public demand for foreign democracy support in developing countries. Increasingly sophisticated public opinion polls show that people in developing countries generally want more democracy. The question that remains is do they necessarily want it from us?
The Lembaga poll is the first time that data is available, at least for Indonesia, which offers a cautious ''yes'' in response. Foreign providers of democracy assistance should be reassured by the fact that many Indonesians seem to accept a role, even if cautiously, for outsiders in supporting Indonesia's democratic development.
Furthermore, while the public backlash against foreign democracy assistance in Indonesia may not be as broad and deep as feared, the poll's results should not be interpreted as unqualified support for unilateral foreign democracy assistance. One-third of respondents were against any role for outsiders. One way to change this view might be for democracy assistance programs to be supported collaboratively by donors, the United Nations and other democratising Muslim countries.
There are also words of warning in the poll's findings. When the data is disaggregated, young urban Indonesians are shown to be more sceptical about Indonesia's democratisation. Recent history in Indonesia and elsewhere think Kenya in January this year shows that disenfranchised young people living in urban areas can become dangerous tools in politically charged situations, such as election periods.
With next year's elections rapidly approaching, Indonesians and those assisting its democracy should therefore not take for granted that Indonesia's democratisation is a done deal. While it may be too early to call its democracy a failure, it is not yet a success. Given the evidence that tenuous support exists for democracy assistance in Indonesia, Indonesia's democrats and democracy assistance providers need to ensure that what they are doing reaches out to those that are sceptical about the endeavour.
Indonesia's next generation of democrats need to be convinced that they are crucial players in the success of their country's democratisation, and that a little help can go a long way.
Michael Wodzicki is a deputy director at Canada's International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development and a Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation Fellow, researching Indonesia's democratisation. (MLWodzicki@yahoo.com)