Abstract:
This paper argues that the existence of persistent antagonism within
the Indonesian society is a sign of flawed democratization process caused by
certain embedded culture within the society. It examines the fulfilment of
supposed preconditions for democratization which departs from Charles Tilly’s
Democracy and the underlying causes of defect in every precondition. Although this
paper does not provide direct causal relations between existing culture and
persistent antagonism, it suggests the need to address cultural factor properly in
order to understand how certain culture undermines the democratization process
in Indonesia and the struggles to deal with the issue of horizontal antagonism.
