Local Civilization and Political Decency: Equilibrium and the Position of the Sultanate in Java

Good men will not consent to govern for cash or honors. They do not want to be called mercenary for exacting a cash payment for the work of government, or thieves for making money on the side; and they will not work for honors, for they are not ambitious. ' Democracy is a widely accepted and prevalent political system in the world today. It is evidently based on the election of leaders according to the will of the majority. Accordingly, a government composed of either directly or indirectly chosen representatives of the people would be regarded as democratic and politically decent. The idea of democracy was the subject of debate in the city-states in ancient Greece, such as Athens, and influenced the course of both the French and American revolutions. In the 18th century, various thinkers in the West further developed the idea of democracy, and their ideas contributed to the establishment of nation states. In the modern era, democracy has come to enshrine one of the ideals of Western civilization. The contemporary scholar, Francis Fukuyama, is one of many who advocate liberal democracy. At the end of the 20 century, he stated: The triumph of the West, of the Western idea, is evident first of all in the total exhaustion of viable systematic alternatives to Western liberalism ..... What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.3 Fukuyama might be right as democratic ideas in the West have admittedly played an important role in liberating humans and have contributed to the development of a freer world.4 Apart from this Western-oriented political system, however, it is still possible to identify traditional alternatives in governance which do not rely on any electoral system in the appointment of top political leaders. The Indonesian island of Java has been known for its distinctive civilization. While its civilizational influence might be domestic and geographically limited, this local civilization seems to offer a unique alternative characterized by a different relationship between the ruler and his subjects. At the end of 2010, Yogyakarta in Central Java, which has preserved the very essence of Javanese civilization with its deep-rooted philosophy and has been ruled by a sultan, was thrown into political turmoil. Yogyakarta' s traditional governance is that the sultan is automatically appointed as the governor of the specially designated province of Yogyakarta, or Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta (DIY). Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, popularly known as SBY, recently expressed the view that a gubernatorial nomination in Yogyakarta was incompatible with the idea of democracy and that there should be a direct election for the governorship. The people in Yogyakarta angrily expressed their strong opposition to the view of this two-time popularly-elected president. On 13 December 2010, when the provincial council decided to support the current system of having the sultan as governor, tens of thousands people took to the streets to show their disagreement with the country's president.5 Some of the banners read: "SBY is the origin of disasters in Yogyakarta," blaming the president for the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which the province has experienced recently. Regardless of age, ethnicity, or gender, people expressed their support for the sultan and showed their heartfelt attachment to him on that day.6 One survey conducted by newspapers indicates that 93.3% of people in Yogyakarta were in favor of their traditional automatic appointment of the sultan as governor.7 Interviews conducted by the author on the streets of Yogyakarta also confirmed the support shown by an overwhelming majority of people for the status quo} What does this local phenomenon mean? …