Indonesia is the third largest democracy in the world (after India and the U.S.) and is a global model for compatibility of Islam and democratic norms. Since the downfall of Suharto in 1998 Indonesia has managed a transition to democratic government without large-scale violence, and without the backsliding that has been so common in other states. Most observers consider Indonesia a consolidated democracy. But it is a democracy facing several important challenges. This presentation looks at the strengths and weaknesses of Indonesian democracy through the lens of the 2014 elections that brought President Jokowi to power.

Allen Hicken is a Research Associate Professor at the Center for Political Studies and at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Michigan. He studies political parties, institutions, political economy and policy making in developing countries, with a focus on Southeast Asia.

This is the fifth of six lectures in the series, "Indonesia; Culturally Diverse, Geographically Fragmented, Strategically Located."