Managing Politics and Islam in Indonesia

Chapter 2State Corporatism and Pluralist ChallengeThe purpose of the following review of literature is to set the parameters ofanalysis and argumentation of the book. We begin with some concepts anddefinitions and then develop argumentation and review of literature oncorporatism and regime transitions.CONCEPTS/DEFINITIONSState and SocietyOne definition of the state is ‘a set of organisations invested with the authority tomake binding decisions for people and organisations, juridicially located in aparticular territory and to implement decisions using, if necessary, force’. 1 Thestate consists of its formal-legal institutions and office-holders (the bureaucracy,the executive, the legislature, the police, the courts, the military, andintelligence). However, one of the problems in defining the state is that theboundaries between state and society are somewhat blurred because ofinterpenetration between state agencies, officials, and other social groups andindividuals. For example, do we consider private clients of state patrons part ofthe state or part of society? Where do we situate quasi-public organisations andinstitutions (e.g., television networks and airlines with part-state ownership)?Where do we locate private individuals and groups that sit on government advisorybodies and commissions and have direct input into policymaking? Are corporatistorganisations a function of state or society? In short, the state consists not onlyof its formal-legal institutions, but also of informal institutions and non-officeholders. 2Migdal conceives of the state as a differentiated and complex organisation‘imbedded’ in society. He argues that different parts of the state and societyengage, and disengage, each other in a mutually transforming manner in multiplesocial arenas of domination, opposition, accommodation, and cooptation.Different parts of the state tend to pull in different directions; ‘one component ofthe state might align itself to an affiliated or linked social group against anothercomponent of the state’. 3 In short, state and society interpenetrate one another, as