Collective Memory, Democratic Ambivalence, and Authoritarian Notions of Democracy: Explaining the Rise of Prabowo Subianto

In 2024, Prabowo won by the greatest margin in Indonesian presidential election history, garnering over 96 million votes. How did Prabowo win so decisively, despite his deep ties to the dark authoritarian past and allegations of human rights violations? Utilizing the original national survey data prior to the 2024 presidential election, the author finds that authoritarian beliefs and nostalgia for the authoritarian past do not explain support for Prabowo. Instead, authoritarian notions of democracy such as support for military governments and strongman leaders are highly linked to Prabowo support. Although supporting Prabowo does not necessarily indicate support for the return of authoritarianism, it does imply that many Indonesians may either be unconcerned or naïve about potential challenges to the current political system, or have a concept of democracy that aligns with the idea of a strong, powerful personalistic leadership that has been a central selling point of Prabowo's presidential candidacy.