The Forming of First-Time Voters’ Political Preference in Indonesia

This paper aims to examine the dynamics of first-time voters in shaping their political preferences as they are recognizing as the new segment in the political field. Based on qualitative research was conducted in Makassar, Indonesia, this work examines the issue of first-time voters by looking at how they shape their political preferences and how it will affect their potential form of political behaviour later. Through in-depth interviews, forty-five students who are come from different high schools that categorized as first-time voters were recognized dominantly influencing by their parent’s preferences. This study found three important sources as the forming factor of the first-time voter political preference. If previously, their preferences were assumed to be close and dominate by their parents, this paper shows that parents are seen no longer as the most dominant factor. It is because there are two sources which are the school activities and social media coming also as the important ones. Both of them has its unique aspect that could be utilized by the first-time voters to improve their political preferences. It is occurring based on the opportunity provided as well as the potential possibilities for increasing their political knowledge comfortability. Two sources, the school activities provided basic things and a few simple political practices while social media provides various information and virtual activities that importantly could increase the first-time voter’s political preferences where at the end will contribute to their political behaviour form.