Democratic Backsliding through the Abuse of Emergency Powers: An Analysis of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law on Mass Organizations and Job Creation during Joko Widodo’s Presidency

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-529-4_6How to use a DOI?

Keywords

emergency powers; democratic backsliding; Indonesia; Perppu; constitutional degradation

Abstract

Democratic backsliding has become a global phenomenon threatening constitutional stability in various countries, including Indonesia as the world’s third-largest democracy. This research analyzes how the abuse of emergency powers can serve as an instrument of democratic backsliding through case studies of the enactment of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) on Mass Organizations 2017 and Perppu on Job Creation 2022 during Joko Widodo’s presidency. Using the theoretical framework of emergency constitutionalism and constitutional degradation, this study applies qualitative analysis methods to ex-amine the political context, policy substance, and constitutional impact of both Perppu cases. Research findings reveal a pattern of systematic bypass of normal democratic processes through the use of emergency powers that do not meet the criteria of genuine constitutional emergency. Both cases demonstrate similar characteristics: strategic political timing, substance that expands executive authority, and minimization of checks and balances mechanisms. This pattern creates constitutional degradation through legal formalism that erodes fundamental democratic principles while maintaining formal-legal legitimacy. This research contributes to democratic backsliding literature by identifying modalities of democratic decline through the abuse of emergency powers in the context of Southeast Asian presidential systems, while providing insights on the importance of strengthening constitutional safeguards to prevent democratic degradation in Indonesia.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Hasannudin Hidayat
AU  - Sunny Ummul Firdaus
AU  - Isharyanto Isharyanto
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/28
TI  - Democratic Backsliding through the Abuse of Emergency Powers: An Analysis of Government Regulation in Lieu of Law on Mass Organizations and Job Creation during Joko Widodo’s Presidency
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Democracy and National Resilience 2025 (ICDNR 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 53
EP  - 66
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-529-4_6
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-529-4_6
ID  - Hidayat2025
ER  -