How did democracy became entrenched in the world's largest Muslim-majority country? After the fall of its authoritarian regime in 1998, Indonesia pursued an unusual course of democratization. It was insider-dominated and gradualist and it involved free elections before a lengthy process of constitutional reform. At the end of the process, Indonesia's amended constitution was essentially a new and thoroughly democratic document. By proceeding as they did, the Indonesians averted the conflict that would have arisen between adherents of the old constitution and proponents of radical, immediate reform. Donald L. Horowitz documents the decisions that gave rise to this distinctive constitutional process. He then traces the effects of the new institutions on Indonesian politics and discusses their shortcomings and their achievements in steering Indonesia away from the dangers of polarization and violence. He also examines the Indonesian story in the context of comparative experience with constitutional design and intergroup conflict.

This book focuses on constitutional reform in Indonesia (1999-2002) from the perspective of shari'a. The study reveals one possible picture of how Islam and constitutionalism can co-exist in the same vision, not without risk of tension, but with the possibility of success.

Since the first edition, Indonesia has undergone massive political and legal change as part of its post-Soeharto reform process and its dramatic transition to democracy. This work contains 25 new chapters and the 4 surviving chapters have all been revised, where necessary. Indonesia: Law and Society now covers a broad range of legal fields and includes both historical and very up-to-date analyses and views on Indonesian legal issues. It includes work by leading scholars from a wide range of countries. There is still no comparable, English language text in existence.

The remit of the Committee is to examine the constitutional implications of all public bills brought before Parliament. Their report considers whether existing procedures enable adequate parliamentary scrutiny of measures that propose constitutional change. The report contains a number of recommendations including: 1) the publication of bills in draft form should become the norm rather than the exception; 2) the Government should develop a more integrated approach to dealing with constitutional issues by reviving the Constitution Secretariat; 3) as yet, the Committee is not convinced that a dedicated department of Constitutional Affairs should be created, and finds there are strong arguments in favour of the leading responsibility for constitutional affairs remaining in the House of Lords rather than the Commons.

The military is one of the few institutions that cut across the divides of Indonesian society. As it continues to play a critical part in determining Indonesia's future, the military itself is undergoing profound change. The authors of this book examine the role of the military in politics and society since the fall of President Suharto in 1998. They present several strategic scenarios for Indonesia, which have important implications for U.S.-Indonesian relations, and propose goals for Indonesian military reform and elements of a U.S. engagement policy.

"The Dutch colonial power in Indonesia in the nineteenth century needed to clarify its understanding of the legal values and conventions of the peoples whom it claimed to rule. Dutch colonial lawyers tended to rationalize this legal culture, lumping together all kinds of indigenous legal customs from different areas as manifestations of adatrecht, or, customary law. The status of this legal system vis-a-vis Dutch colonial law was a source of continual depute and disagreement. The champions of adatrecht known as the Leiden School, with C. van Vollenhoven in the forefront, scored a victory around 1927 when adatrecht gained official recognition, though on the other hand it became the subject of mounting criticism. After World War II, the independent state of Indonesia paid lip service to adatrecht principles, but in practice treated it as irrelevant, or even an embarrassment."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved