Ach. Apriyanto Romadhan Apriyanto

MONEY POLITICS IN THE SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS IN BATU CITY: NETWORKS, PRACTICES, AND DRIVING FACTORS

Introduction

Money politics in the simultaneous elections in batu city: networks, practices, and driving factors. Explore money politics in Batu City's simultaneous elections, analyzing vote buying, patron-client networks, and social norms. Uncover its persistence beyond economic factors in Indonesian democracy.

Abstract

Money politics remains a serious challenge to the consolidation of democracy in Indonesia. Despite ongoing reforms to electoral institutions, vote buying and other material inducements continue to erode electoral integrity. This study analyzes the dynamics of money politics in the simultaneous elections in Batu City, East Java, a relatively prosperous region that no longer faces high poverty rates. To explain the persistence of this practice beyond economic factors, the study uses a qualitative descriptive approach through in-depth interviews with seven voters and two campaign team members. These are analyzed using interactive analysis, supplemented by direct observation and document review. The findings indicate that money politics manifests in four main patterns: vote buying, individual gifts, club goods, and pork barrels, which are carried out through patron-client networks involving campaign teams, neighborhood heads (RT/RW), religious leaders, and families. These patterns demonstrate that money politics operates through a combination of transactional relationships, relational closeness, and local institutional structures. Voter acceptance is not only rooted in short-term economic calculations but is also influenced by permissive social norms, transactional electoral traditions, weak oversight, and competitive incentives within an open proportional system. This study shows that money politics persists because it is integrated into social networks and institutional structures, not solely because of economic vulnerability, thus providing an empirical basis for revisiting the relationship between welfare, patronage practices, and electoral behavior in Indonesia.

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