New article written by Ward Berenschot et al. titled ‘Business-politics relations in Indonesia: The oligarchization of democracy’, in the journal Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies.

KITLV researcher Ward Berenschot collaborated with researchers from ANU and Greenpeace Indonesia to study to business ties of Indonesian politicians. They find that 45 percent of Indonesia’s parliamentarians and 65 percent of cabinet members (both 2019-2024) have direct ties to companies, thus providing further evidence of the oligarchization of Indonesia’s democracy. On the basis of this data they argue that democratic reforms have shifted the balance of power between politicians, bureaucrats and business actors.