The Challenge of Returning Political Parties to Its Function:

As a Means of Political Education for the People

Roman Hadi Saputro

Universitas Terbuka, UPBJJ-UT Sorong, West Papua, Indonesia

Keywords: Political Party, People, Government.

Abstract: The paper entitled "The Challenge of Returning Political Parties to Its Function: As a Means of Political

Education for the People" aims to find out what challenges are faced when it will make political parties a

means of political education for the community. In Article 11 paragraph 1 of the Law of the Republic of

Indonesia Number 2 of 2008 stated that one of the functions of political parties is to carry out political

education for members and the wider community to become Indonesian citizens who are aware of their

rights and obligations in the life of society, nation, and patriotic. This is different from the reality in

Indonesia today because of frequent internal and external party conflicts and narrow loyalties to the party

rather than national interests so that the function to educate the public in political life is minimal. For this

reason, participation is needed, not only from the management, members, and sympathizers of political

parties but from all levels of Indonesian society so that the existing political parties can carry out their

functions properly so that Indonesia can mature in politics.

1 INTRODUCTION

Political parties become one of the important

elements in a democratic country because without a

political party, a country cannot be called a

democratic country. Political parties in Indonesia

had existed since the Dutch East Indies but at that

time, political parties established by the natives

could not enter and get seats in government. After

Indonesia proclaimed its independence, the General

Election (ELECTION) held in 1955 became the first

competition for political parties in Indonesia to get a

chance to enter the government. 172 political parties

and individuals took part in the General Elections

held in Indonesia for the first time and competed for

260 seats in parliament.

Political parties in Indonesia experienced a

setback when they were under the leadership of the

New Order, during which the government fused or

merged political parties. In Article 1 Paragraph 1 of

Law Number 3 of 1975 concerning Political Parties

and Work Groups it is stated that to simplify

political life in Indonesia there are two political

parties recognized by the government and one Work

Group. With the application of the Act, political

parties are only a complement to the democratic

system implemented by the government at that time.

Prasetya (2011) states that Under the New Order

political parties were only used as legitimacy by the

authorities at that time to show the international

world that Indonesia was obedient in carrying out

the principle of democracy, where political parties

were one of the pillars or markers that democracy

existed in the country. The party is powerless when

dealing with the authorities, political parties cannot

play their role as a means of control for the

authorities, political parties cannot be an alternative

for people who want change. Some even said that

the party at that time (non-Golkar), like PPP, was

interpreted as a development complementary party,

while the PDI was said to be a peaceful party. This

view is very reasonable when the party did not have

any power to influence the policies of the ruling

power at that time. How not, the authorities are able

to control these parties by influencing the party's

elite who are accommodating to the government to

become the party's general chairman.

Since the fall of the New Order government in

1998, political parties in Indonesia seemed to have

the opportunity to compete fairly in fighting for

parliamentary seats. Even in Article 2 Chapter II of

Law No. 2 of 1999 states that the requirements for

Saputro, R.

The Challenge of Returning Political Parties to Its Function: As a Means of Political Education for the People.

DOI: 10.5220/0010011800750079

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 3 2019) - Social Engineering Governance for the People, Technology and Infrastructure in

Revolution Industry 4.0, pages 75-79

ISBN: 978-989-758-472-5

the establishment of political parties are established

by:

1. At least 50 (fifty) citizens of the Republic of

Indonesia who are 21 (twenty-one) years old can

form a political party.

2. Political parties formed as referred to in

paragraph (1) must meet the following

requirements:

a. include Pancasila as the state foundation of the

Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia in the

party's articles of association;

b. the principles or characteristics, aspirationsand

programs of political parties do not conflict with

Pancasila;

c. political party membership is open to every

citizen of the Republic of Indonesia who has the

right to vote;

d. political parties may not use the same name or

symbol as the symbol of a foreign country, the

flag of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia Sang

Merah Putih, the national flag of a foreign

country, individual images and names and

symbols of other existing parties.

The reforms that took place in Indonesia in 1998

certainly caused a separate euphoria for the people

in politics considering that in the elections held one

year after the reforms, 48 political parties competed.

This is certainly good for the development of

democracy in Indonesia, which has long been

trapped in a pseudo-democratic system.

Labolo and Ilham (2015) stated that although in

this Reformation era, Indonesia repeated the history

of the implementation of multiparty party systems

such as those that were once practiced during the

Liberal and Guided Democracy. As for therapy,

there is a fundamental difference between the two

periods. When during the Liberal or Guided

Democracy parties had a clear ideology and were

carried out in a consistent manner, but in the

Reformation era the party's ideology was less

influential and contained only as a display on the

party's constitution.

2 POLITICAL PARTY

Surbakti in Prasetya (2011) states that there are 7

(seven) functions of political parties, namely:

1. Political Socialization,

Political socialization is the process of forming

the political attitudes and orientation of members

of society, through this process of political

socialization the community knows the

importance of politics and its instruments.

Political socialization can certainly shape the

political character and the political character

possessed by the community will make it easier

to resolve existing conflicts.

2. Political Recruitment,

Political recruitment is the selection and

selection or appointment and appointment of a

person or group of people to carry out a number

of roles in the political system in general and the

government in particular. The system of

recruiting a person to become a member,

administrator, and even a candidate for

legislative members of a party should apply a

standard and be carried out strictly so that the

selected cadres are truly the best so they can set

an example to the public in politics.

3. Political Participation,

Political parties with their political

communication and socialization functions will

lead to rational enlightenment to the public for

political activities. The level of political

participation of the community in participating in

general elections is influenced by the level of

activeness of political parties in conducting

socialization of programs and also by the level of

awareness and maturity of the community in

politics. Society is said to be an adult if the level

of awareness in politics is high and this is

evidenced by high political participation in

determining choices in elections.

4. Interest Guide,

The activities of accommodating, analyzing and

integrating different and even conflicting

interests into various public policy alternatives

are then fought for in the process of making and

implementing political decisions. That is what is

meant by the function of guiding interests

5. Political Communication,

Political communication is the process of

delivering information about politics from

government to the community and from the

community to the government. Information is

very important when we talk about modern

organizations because the organization

(Government) will be able to retain power when

it understands what is the needs of its people.

6. Conflict Control,

Political parties as a democratic institution

function to control conflict through dialogue with

parties to the conflict, accommodate and

integrate the various aspirations and interests of

the parties to the conflict and bring problems into

the deliberations of the people's representative

ICOSOP 3 2019 - International Conference on Social Political Development (ICOSOP) 3

bodies to get a solution in the form of political

decisions.

7. Political Control.

Political control is an activity to show mistakes,

weaknesses, and deviations in the contents of a

policy or in the implementation of policies made

and implemented by the government

Thomas Meyer (2012) also states that political

parties play a decisive role in a modern democratic

system and are the main pillars in the political

system institutions. Political parties translate the

values and interests of a society in a bottom-up

process so that the values and interests of that

community become a draft national law, binding

regulations, and a program for the people.

In line with the development of democracy in

Indonesia, that the function of political parties has

shifted a lot to become a means for confrontation

with the government. Political parties become a tool

used to oppose policies that are not in accordance

with party objectives. The shift caused the function

of political parties as a means to educate the public

in politics to be lost.

The public must be given an explanation of the

functions and objectives of the establishment of

political parties. Political learning to the community

is very important in order to create synergy between

the community, political parties, and the

government. In developed countries such as the

United States, Britain, Germany, France, and Russia,

political parties have been integrated and are able to

carry out their functions properly so that the

problems between political parties and the

government are relatively few.

Today's political parties actually become its own

problem considering the statement of the

Chairperson of the Corruption Eradication

Commission (KPK), Agus Raharjo, who stated that

the perpetrators of corruption from the most public

officials were DPR and DPRD members who were

members of political parties, namely in 255 cases.

Then the regional head numbered 110 cases.

In the Corruption Enforcement Trends Report in

2018 issued by Indonesian Corruption Watch stated

that there were 454 corruption cases with 1,087

suspects in which the Chair / Members of the House

of Representatives were in the top 3 with 127

suspects. Surely this is not an encouraging number

considering the chairman/member of the House of

Representatives comes from political parties that

should be tasked with providing political education

to the public.

Table 1: Position/Professional perpetrators of corruption.

No. Profession Suspects %

State Civil Apparatus

(ASN)

375 34.5

2 Private 235 21.6

Chairman/Members of

the House of

Representatives

127 11.7

4 Village Head 102 9.4

5 Regional Head 28 2.6

BUMN Directors/

Employees

28 2.6

7 Other 192 17.6

3 POLITICAL EDUCATION

Political parties must be restored to their functions

as stated in Article 11 paragraph 1 of Law No. 2 of

2008 which states that the functions of political

parties are political education for members and the

wider community to become Indonesian citizens

who are aware of their rights and obligations in

social life, nation, and state. Through this function, it

is hoped that political parties will be able to provide

political learning and provide positive examples to

the public regarding ethics in politics.

Soeharto (2011) states that political education

has three objectives, namely forming political

personality, political awareness, and political

participation. The formation of political personality

is done through indirect methods, namely training

and outreach, and direct methods in the form of

political teaching and the like. To grow political

awareness two methods can be adopted, namely

dialogue and instructive teaching. As for political

participation, it is manifested by the voluntary

participation of individuals in the political life of

their communities.

Political awareness that grows with dialogue

means that communication between political parties

and the public is needed regarding matters relating

to politics and government. In this case, the dialogue

is not only when the General Election will take

place, but also a continuous dialogue, both formal

and informal so that people understand and increase

political awareness. Formal dialogue, for example, is

conducting formal meetings between political parties

and the community to discuss issues related to

nationality or other matters that are deemed

necessary to find a solution together. Whereas

informal dialogue is carried out dialogue wherever

and whenever without an official event. Dialogue

The Challenge of Returning Political Parties to Its Function: As a Means of Political Education for the People

like this can occur in public places, in private

agencies, or in transportation.

Soekarno (2011) explained that by getting

political education, the masses of the people were

expected to be creative, critical, independent, and

participatory if they were given the opportunity to

behave democratically. It Can foster political

skepticism and the wisdom of political insight about

political phenomena with all their networks. That

way people are able to carry out the functions of

political control, verification (proof) of the ongoing

political reality.

People who have received political education

will be able to carry out political control functions

against the government. Control over the

government here does not mean criticizing every

policy issued by the government but it can provide

input on the policies issued or the government's

attitude that is not in accordance with the laws and

applicable laws and regulations so that checks and

balances occur in the running of the government.

In addition, people who have received political

education are also expected to be able to verify and

be able to choose news about the ongoing political

reality. The public will also be able to distinguish

between news that is considered a hoax and actual

news. Political cleverness does not mean that the

public has excessive fanaticism towards one party or

group but can be smart to determine their attitude

and trust the news or reality.

Political education is supposed to be carried out

by political parties as mandated by Law No. 2 of

2008 concerning Political Parties. This political

education can be done in various ways, for example

by giving examples to the public how to politely

express opinions in public. This is the simplest thing

a political party can do so that the public will see

what the political party has done.

Soeharto (2011) states that political education is

an activity that aims to form and grow political

orientations on individuals. It includes conceptual

beliefs that have political content, including also

political loyalties and feelings, as well as political

knowledge and insights that cause a person to have

an awareness of political issues and political

attitudes. In addition, he aims to enable every

individual to provide active political participation in

his community. Political education is an activity that

continues throughout human life and it is not

possible to be fully realized except in a free society.

Regarding political education, in Article 31

paragraph 1 of Law No. 2 of 2008 concerning

Political Parties, it is stated that political parties

conduct political education for the community in

accordance with the scope of their responsibilities by

paying attention to justice and gender equality with

the objectives of:

a. Increasing awareness of the rights and

obligations of the community in the life of

society, nation, and state

b. Increasing political participation and community

initiatives in community, nation and state life,

and

c. Increasing independence, maturity, and building

the nation's character in order to maintain the

unity and integrity of the nation.

If you look at what is stated in Law No. 2 of

2008 concerning Political Parties, it can be seen that

the level of success of political parties in providing

political education can be seen from three aspects,

namely; (1) When people already have an awareness

of their rights in politics, such as expressing

opinions in public and playing an active role in the

country's development, (2) When the community

already has awareness in actively participating in the

General Election, both as a Candidate for Legislative

Members and coming to the Polling Station (TPS) as

a voter, (3) When the community has independence

and is no longer dependent on the government in

daily life.

To achieve this goal is indeed not easy, it takes

the participation of political parties, the community,

and even the government as representatives of the

elected political party cadres. The challenges that

must be faced together and no longer occur mutual

blame between the community, political parties, and

the government. If a synergy has been created

between the three elements, then political parties are

not only a tool for the public to confront the

government, but as a tool to realize the ideals of the

Indonesian people as written in the opening of the

Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, namely

protecting the whole of the Indonesian people and

all of Indonesia's bloodshed, promoting public

welfare, educating the nation's life, and participating

in carrying out world order based on independence,

eternal peace and social justice.

4 CONCLUSION

The function of political parties to provide education

to the public about political life in Indonesia at this

time cannot yet be fully carried out because there are

still many challenges that must be faced. The hardest

challenge for the political parties is how to change

the image of the political party itself which is

already bad due to the actions of unscrupulous

ICOSOP 3 2019 - International Conference on Social Political Development (ICOSOP) 3

political party members. This must be done first

because all parties in the parliament now have party

members who have been involved in the problem of

corruption.

Political parties should implement strict

recruitment of candidates for their party members

and provide basic training not only on the party's

vision and mission but also on how to achieve the

vision and mission by prioritizing the national goals

of the Indonesian nation and by instilling anti-

corruption values in every activity done. In this way,

it is hoped that the party cadres who become

members of parliament are truly the best party

cadres who indeed work for the interests of the

people so that they become an example and learning

for the public in politics.

REFERENCES

Indonesian Corruption Watch. 2018. Laporan tren

penindakan korupsi 2018.

Labolo, M., Ilham, T., 2015. Partai politik dan sistem

pemimlihan umum di Indonesia: Teori, konsep, dan

isu strategis, PT Raja Grafindo Persada. Jakarta.

Prasetya, I.Y., 2011. Pergeseran peran ideologi dalam

partai politik.Jurnal Ilmu Politik dan Ilmu

Pemerintahan, 1(1).

Soeharto, A., 2011. Urgensi pendidikan politik bagi

perempuan. Jurnal of Muwazah, 3(1), 325-333.

Soekarno, B., 2011. Pendidikan politik dalam

demokratisasi. Widya Wacana: Jurnal Ilmiah, 7(1).

Surbakti, R., 1992. Memahami ilmu politik, Grasindo.

Jakarta.

The Challenge of Returning Political Parties to Its Function: As a Means of Political Education for the People