Political Culture of the Golkar Party in North Sumatra Post

Reformation

M. Ziad Ananta, R. Hamdani Harahap

, Heri Kusmanto

and Irfan Simatupang

Doctoral Program of Development Studies, Faculty of Social Science and Political Science,

Universitas Sumatera Utara, Jl. Prof. Dr. A. Sofyan No. 1 Kampus USU, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Political Culture, Golkar Party, Post-Reformation.

Abstract: The Golkar Party is one of the largest parties in the history of politics in Indonesia. His contribution in the

direction of national development since the New Order Era to the Reformation Era has also colored

development from the national to regional levels. In general, the existence of the Golkar Party as an institution

cannot be separated from political culture. The image as a ruling party and a party that is close to the people

characterizes the Golkar Party with the tagline "Golkar's voice is the voice of the people ". In North Sumatra

Province, the votes and seats for the Golkar Party have never been out of the top 3 (three). This means that

elements of the Golkar Party's political culture related to the beliefs, values, and attitudes of the Golkar Party

always get the sympathy of the people of North Sumatra. The purpose of this study was to analyze how the

political culture of the post-Reform Golkar party. The research method is qualitative with descriptive analysis.

The results of this study explain the norms and image building of the Golkar Party, the Patronage Relations

of the Golkar Party, and the Pattern of Cadreization of the Golkar Party in North Sumatra.

1 INTRODUCTION

The Golkar Party is one of the largest parties in the

history of politics in Indonesia. His contribution in the

direction of national development since the New

Order Era to the Reformation Era has colored

development in Indonesia. Both in the crisis period

after President Soekarno's Old Order Era, the

Reformation Era 1997-1998 until the general election

in Indonesia was carried out directly, both

presidential elections and regional head elections

from 2004 until now. Moreover, during the 7 (seven)

elections during the New Order Period (1967-1997),

Golkar won the legislative elections 7 (seven) times

and during the 5 (five) elections during the

Reformation period (1998-2019), once Golkar won

the general election. legislative and never leave the

top 3 (three) positions nationally. This means that

without a political culture, it is impossible for the

Golkar Party to remain in the top order of the general

election in Indonesia.

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Political culture in general is an integral part of

symbols, myths, beliefs and values that are embedded

in a society. The elements contained in political

culture are more symbolic in nature combined with

elements of the beliefs of a community group.

Lehmann (1972) states that political culture is very

important in understanding the institutions and

legitimacy of a government (Lehman, 1972).

While Wilson (2011) says that political culture is

a manifestation of the psychological and mental

aspects of politics which include personality traits and

social systems (Wilson, 2011). This means that in

general political culture is the beliefs, values, and

attitudes of the people towards the government or

political leaders (Obeidi, 2001). However, each

element of society has a different political culture

between the general public and their elites who tend

to divide sharply between the elite group and the mass

group.

Research related to political culture in Indonesia

has always been a very interesting study, especially

when it is linked to the dynamics of public political

150

Ananta, M., Harahap, R., Kusmanto, H. and Simatupang, I.

Political Culture of the Golkar Party in North Sumatra Post Reformation.

DOI: 10.5220/0011562900003460

In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 2022) - Human Security and Agile Government, pages 150-155

ISBN: 978-989-758-618-7; ISSN: 2975-8300

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

participation. Where the political process in the

cultural framework is influenced by the development

of the existing order in society. Especially related to

education and political understanding, it greatly

influenced the development of political culture in

Indonesia, which had different characteristics during

the Old Order, New Order, and Reformation eras

(Sumartono, 2018).

Contextually the development of political culture

in Indonesia is manifested by the birth of political

parties. Political parties within the framework of

power always try to win the sympathy of the people

through the general election mechanism with the aim

of placing their cadres in a government that does not

conflict with Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution

(Gaffar, 1999).

The existence of Golkar as an institution is a

necessity. The initial conception was certainly related

to the democratization agenda requiring political

means or channels with the needs of the community

(Mainwaring, 1998). The Golkar Party is a tool that

has a variety of functions, platforms (party programs)

and rationale that are used as considerations to assess

democracy in a government. In its development,

Golkar built a significant and representative political

culture to participate in determining policies (policy)

through a strong organizational system supported by

its wing organizations that joined the Golkar

Secretariat, such as the All-Indonesian Employee

Organization Center (SOKSI), the Republican

Employee Movement. Indonesia (GAKARI), the

Development Potential of Work (BPPK), the Mutual

Cooperation Savings Cooperative (KASGORO), and

the Mutual Cooperation Family Consultation

(MKGR) (Tandjung, 2007).

This means that the political culture built by

Golkar since its establishment, was initiated and

developed against the background of the situation,

conditions, socialization and political education of the

cadres themselves. Especially for party elites who

have the authority and power in making policies so

that the political culture of Golkar changes from time

to time.

There are two tendencies in discussing the

political culture of the Golkar Party in two eras,

namely the New Order and the Reformation era. The

first departs from a behavioral study perspective that

focuses on the relativity of political culture in the

Golkar party to explain the differences in institutional

implementation centered on President Suharto's

patron. Second, a sociological view that emphasizes

the modernization process of the Golkar Party which

influences the formation of political culture. The

political culture of the Golkar Party in the view of

changing political culture emphasizes organizational

political change through shifting social and cultural

values from the conventional to the modern party.

Specifically, the political culture of the Golkar Party

is directed at changing political culture following the

times in the digital era, where information technology

and communication media are a means of shifting

attitudes, behavior, and values related to the post-

reform Gokkar Party political pattern.

One of the areas that has become the power base

of the Golkar Party in Indonesia today is North

Sumatra Province. As the region with the 4th largest

number of voters in Indonesia after West Java, East

Java, and Central Java. The province of North

Sumatra has played a major role in the survival of the

post-Reformation Golkar Party. This is confirmed by

several regions in North Sumatra, namely the

City/Regency controlled by the Golkar Party both in

the executive and legislative branches. In addition,

the position of the Golkar Party in the North Sumatra

local parliament after the reform from 1999-2019 was

very significant in determining the political dynamics

in North Sumatra. In North Sumatra, the power of the

Golkar Party undoubtedly had a significant impact on

general socio-political change.

The Golkar Party builds an image that the

organization's political culture relies on strength in its

bases, especially in plantation areas in North Sumatra

which includes AsahanRegency, Simalungun

Regency, Labuhanbatu Regency, South Labuhanbatu

Regency, TanjungBalai City, PematangSiantar City,

Deli Serdang Regency and other districts. Serdang

Bedagai. The political culture of the Golkar Party in

the Reformation era in North Sumatra understood the

social response to the understanding of the people in

North Sumatra.In this position, the Golkar Party of

North Sumatra plays a role in bringing about change

in increasing public political awareness and

increasing the Golkar Party as a political force in

North Sumatra. Apart from the structural reforms of

the North Sumatran Golkar Party after the victory of

the EdyRahmayadi-Musa Rajeckshah pair after the

2018 North Sumatra elections.

The Golkar Party tries to answer the challenge

with a politically moderate political culture. So that

stability becomes very important by placing cadres

who sit in executive positions as administrators in

North Sumatra. This is important considering that in

the past decade the internal Golkar Party at the

national level has experienced strong dynamics

related to internal conflicts. This directly affects the

political dynamics in the regions, including in North

Sumatra Province.

Political Culture of the Golkar Party in North Sumatra Post Reformation

151

The efforts of the North Sumatran Golkar Party in

making adjustments to political facts by revitalizing

basic values and changing paradigms in accordance

with changing times are part of the party's political

culture. Political Culture is not only about

democratization, political participation, transparency,

and social justice but also changes in the political

structure at the local level in North Sumatra. The

Golkar Party always tries to maintain its existence in

every election, be it legislative elections or executive

elections at the local level.

The proof was in the Simultaneous Pilkada on

December 9, 2020, from 23 Cities/Regencies that

held the Pilkada in North Sumatra. The Golkar Party

has won 16 City/Regency elections in North Sumatra,

namely the Medan City Election, Binjai Regional

Election, Pematang Siantar Pilkada, Tanjung Balai

Pilkada, Gunung Sitoli Pilkada, Serdang Bedagai

Regency Pilkada, Simalungun Pilkada, Asahan

Pilkada, Labuhan Batu Utara Pilkada, Labuhan

Pilkada Batu, Samosir Regency Pilkada, Mandailing

Natal (Madina) Pilkada, Humbang Hasundutan

(Humbahas) Pilkada, South Tapanuli Pilkada, Pakpak

Bharat Pilkada and Nias Pilkada (RMOL/30

December 2021) Post-Reformation Golkar Party's

strategy in local politics in North Sumatra is part

which is not constant in terms of party organization,

external environment and its relation to power. The

best cadres of the Golkra party in the regions are

always required to take positions among the

leadership. Based on the description of the

background, the research entitled "Political Culture of

the Golkar Party in North Sumatra Post-Reformation"

is important to be carried out in order to understand

and explain the political culture of the Golkar Party

in North Sumatra.

2 RESEARCH METHODS

The writing of this article uses descriptive analysis

with qualitative research methods. Researchers can

focus on phenomena that occur on problems or

phenomena that are actual at the time the research is

carried out, then describe the facts about the problem

being investigated as they are accompanied by

rational and accurate interpretations. This method

will help researchers to understand the Political

Culture of the Golkar Party in North Sumatra after the

Reformation. Research data collection is also carried

out through a review process of journals as primary

data related to the Political Culture of the Golkar

Party in North Sumatra Post-Reformation. Then the

secondary data of this research was obtained by the

author from books and documents or reports related

to the research focus. The author then analyzes the

phenomenon of the case inductively about how the

Golkar Party in North Sumatra builds, maintains and

socializes its post-reform political culture.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Norms and Image Development of

the Golkar Party

Norms in political culture are the embodiment of

values, good/bad measures that are used as directors,

guidelines, and drivers of community action into

common life. The form of values and norms

embodied ethically in politics about the size of good

or bad that regulates how a person should carry out a

political activity. It is called the form of norms in

political culture, because between norms and values

are closely related, even as a unit, especially the value

of goodness in matters of power and its aim is to

prosper the community. The norm then becomes an

active embodiment of an institution in achieving its

goals.

As a political party that adheres to norms, the

Golkar Party views norms as a value, or a quality that

every politician should have. The political boundaries

in the electoral context state that the norms

implemented by the Golkar Party are capabilities that

can bring prosperity to the community. Every

political activity is said to contain value, if the act can

realize what is desired together to achieve a common

goal, then the political elite in people's lives will

automatically do good, which is what it should be

(Parmono, 1989).

The norm of kindness is something that the people

want, which is then captured by the Golkar Party,

something that every Golkar Party politician strives

for and becomes the goal of. The Golkar Party's

tagline, namely "Golkar's voice is the voice of the

people ". becomes the actualization of values carried

out in order to achieve the goal, namely the formation

of the image of the Golkar party that sided with the

interests of the community. Although there are

different views on a political decision and policy, but

the goal for the benefit of society is something that

must be achieved (Nimmo, 2000). The goal of the

Golkar Party is the general welfare which should not

conflict with the interests of the constituents.

Through the basis of norms, Golkar then builds its

political image which is formed from experiences in

power during the New Order period and how to rise

from the slump in its image in the 1998 reformation

ICOSOP 2022 - International Conference on Social and Political Development 4

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period. Moreover, the process of forming the image

of the Golkar Party is formed from information

received either directly or through the political media

regarding how the views of the Golkar Party are

formed. the public against the Golkar Party. The

formation of the image of the Golkar Party also

includes how organizational norms are reported

through the mass media which work to convey the

general and actual political message of the Golkar

Party. It also forms the perception that is built through

norms manifested as a cognitive consequence of the

political communication of the Golkar Party itself.

This is of course related to how the values in the

communication of the Golkar Party do not directly

lead to certain opinions or behaviors, but tend to

influence the way the public organizes the image of

the Golkar Party as a political party that fights for

society.It is the image of the Golkar Party that

ultimately influences the opinion or behavior of the

public on how post-reform Golkar has formed a new

political culture as the party of ideas. The conception

of the Gokkar Party as an arena of sharp, lively and

creative idea competition, is not just an arena for

power struggles but also to build political culture as

an image construction (Cangara, 2009) greater ideals

through ideas and ideas with organizational building

through norms and values.

Post-reform, the Golkar Party views that what will

become strength and power is not only positions, but

Golkar views that bright ideas will also get a place on

an equal footing with the rulers. Golkar itself as a

coalition party does not have the main power in the

parliament and government, but with the advantages

of its ideas, Golkar is more coloring in every trial in

both parliament and government.

Golkar leaders want this battle of ideas to become

a tradition in Golkar's activities in party

organizations. If this tradition is associated with the

spirit of the new paradigm, it will be met with aspects

of strength and democratization. Brilliant ideas and

thoughts are Golkar's potential strengths, while

debate interactions are a democratic way to find the

truth. As an effort to encourage Golkar Party cadres

to develop ideas, Golkar often invites experts who

have expertise in certain fields that are not owned by

Golkar cadres, thus Golkar has a challenge to

continuously come up with new ideas.

This means that Golkar's ideals of building the

tradition of The Party of Idea formed by value

awareness will be realized when the ranks of the

board and cadres are controlled regularly from the

central board to regional administrators. Through

norms and values in the construction of the Golkar

Party as an idea party with political values, norms and

culture carried out in various party activities which

are organizationally facilitated by Golkar, so that

cadres can grow, be empowered and have awareness

in politics, this is one way what Golkar does to gain

and maintain party power, so that it can regain the

trust of the masses so that it is imaged as a party that

is close to the people.

3.2 Golkar Party Patronage Relations

Political culture in Indonesia cannot be separated

from a culture of patronage (Reeve, 1985). This is

rooted in the long history of the archipelago

consisting of kingdoms spread across various regions

in Indonesia. Empirical findings from various

existing literatures are patterned on the concept of

patronage according to Edward Aspinall (2014)

explaining the term patronage concept as an

inseparable part of political life and power relations.

Including those related to the Golkar Party, which

since its establishment during the Old Order,

triumphed during the New Order and continues to

exist during the reformation period to this day.

In the local context, patronage within the Golkar

Party shows a tendency related to economic demands

and to accommodate people's aspirations in the form

of concrete actions and smooth the steps of Golkar

Party politicians in North Sumatra to gain votes in the

presidential election, legislative general election and

head election. region, whether it is the

Governor/Deputy Governor to the Regent/Deputy

Regent and the Mayor/Deputy Mayor.

Patronage within the Golkar party is clearly taken

into account in electoral politics in North Sumatra,

where in much of the literature so far it largely

depends on what situation is the most effective

patronage, what form of patronage dominates, and

how patronage can work effectively in North

Sumatra. The phenomenon of patronage in the arena

of power struggles is quite symptomatic and has

become a strategy for mobilizing voters for the

Golkar Party which does not only apply to large-scale

elections, but also begins to enter elections at the

grassroots. This portrait can be seen by the

appearance of figures in every election event since the

1998 Reformation period until now in North Sumatra.

Names such as Samsul Arifin (Former Governor

of North Sumatra), Ali Umri (Former Mayor of

Binjai/Candidate for Governor of North Sumatra

2008), Ngogesa Sitepu (Regent of Langkat),

ChairumanHarahap (Candidate for Governor of

North Sumatra 2013), Leo Nababan, Meutya Hafid (

Members of the DPR RI) to Musa Rajeckshah

showed how the Golkar Party in North Sumatra

Political Culture of the Golkar Party in North Sumatra Post Reformation

153

emphasized character. In addition to the names above,

there are many other Golkar Party figures in North

Sumatra who have big names and have patronage

influence in gaining votes and placing the Golkar

Party in North Sumatra into an elite party.

The phenomenon of the patronage of the Golkar

party referring to figures is certainly related to social

capital and economic capital (Pandiangan, 1996)

which ultimately have an impact on the Golkar Party's

vote acquisition in the Regional People's

Representative Council (DPRD) of North Sumatra.

Table 1: The seats of the Golkar Party in the North Sumatra

DPRD 1999-2019.

Source: Election Commission

The table above shows that the Golkar Party has

never left the 3rd position (the top thirty due to the

strong role of political patrons who are strong

network and economically. The patronage illustrates

the existence of a personified relationship based on

conditional loyalty and mutual benefit transactions

between Golkar Party cadres) with its constituents.

Where this transaction is not seen as only related

to economic problems but is related to If patronage

describes more transactional practices that are

material but more social in nature, then the pattern of

relations between the community and political elites,

voters or supporters becomes an absolute

relationship. This then builds a political culture in the

Golkar Party, apart from building a political idea as a

novelty, it also maintains patronage because it is

electorally profitable (Triasa, 2012).

3.3 Golkar Party Cadreization Pattern

in North Sumatra

The Golkar Party is a well-established party

organizationally and bureaucratically. The wide

network and the large number of Party cadres bearing

the banyan symbol fill legislative and executive

positions, making the regeneration pattern very good.

This means that a system has been built that is

organizationally entrenched in how the Golkar Party

in North Sumatra grows and is ready to fight in the

general election.

So that one aspect that makes the Golkar Party in

North Sumatra become well institutionalized. The

impact is that the North Sumatran Golkar Party has

become a very stable party, to be present in every

general election in North Sumatra after the reform

and always getting more than 12% of the vote.

Although, among them, many of the North Sumatran

Golkar Party cadres moved to either the Hanura Party,

Gerindra Party or the National Democratic Party. The

North Sumatran Golkar party's vote gain has never

dropped drastically.

This means that the competencies possessed by

each cadre of the North Sumatran Golkar Party are

formed and fostered with the main focus so that each

cadre has a commitment to ideology, the ideals of the

organization's struggle, is responsible for developing

and fortifying the organization. Technically, the

North Sumatran Golkar Party cadres are prepared for

the process of leadership, independence and

popularity. However, in the regeneration process of

the North Sumatran Golkar Party cadres, they must

sort out how a cadre should behave so that each cadre

is competent in wading through electoral battles. Real

and proven competent cadres must bring about

significant changes in the party and party mass so that

they gain the trust of the public as the party's long

history has historical value regarding cadres (Chew,

2004).

In the North Sumatran Golkar Party, it has

become a political culture that party cadres are

grouped into several groups. This grouping of cadres

was carried out to facilitate the process of gathering

people's aspirations in the North Sumatra region,

which consists of two large areas, namely the West

Coast of North Sumatra and the East Coast of North

Sumatra. So that the North Sumatran Golkar Party

cadres are grouped into five, namely: Party

Mobilizing Cadres, Functional Cadres, Urban

Territorial Cadres, Government Mobilizing Cadres,

and Raising Raders.

Of course, each group of cadres has its own task

in order to win the Golkar Party in North Sumatra. In

general, the tasks of cadres in North Sumatra are

aimed at achieving the goals of the Golkar Party to

win as many seats as possible in the Provincial DPRD

or Regency/City DPRD and be elected as regional

head in regency cities in North Sumatra. In its

journey, the cadre culture of the Golkar Party

continues to undergo modification, adjustment and

development according to the social context it faces.

Moreover, the wing organization of the Golkar Party

also participated in contributing votes in loyal

elections.

No Election/Year Position Seats

Total

number

of seats

1 1999 Election 2 10 85

2 2004 Election 1 19 85

3 2009 Election 3 12 100

4 2014 Election 1 17 100

5 2019 Election 2 15 100

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4 CONCLUSIONS

The existence of the Golkar Party in North Sumatra

as a political party that continues to exist after the

Reformation cannot be separated from how they

maintain and renew their political culture. The Golkar

Party's conception of political culture related to

political means or channels becomes a necessity in

order to keep constituents loyal. In its development,

Golkar has built a significant and representative

political culture to participate in determining policies

(policy) through a strong organizational system. The

norm of kindness becomes a political culture to form

a positive image in the eyes of the public. Because

this is something that the people want, which is then

arrested by the Golkar Party, it is something that

every Golkar Party politician strives for and becomes

the goal of. The Golkar Party's tagline, namely "Voice

of the People, SuaraGolkar" becomes the

actualization of values carried out in order to achieve

the goal, namely the formation of the image of the

Golkar party that sided with the interests of the

community.

In addition, in the local context, patronage within

the Gokkar Party shows a tendency related to

economic demands and to accommodate people's

aspirations in the form of concrete actions and smooth

out the steps of Golkar Party politicians in North

Sumatra to gain votes in the presidential election,

legislative general election. as well as the election of

regional heads, be it Governor/Deputy Governor to

Regent/Deputy Regent and Mayor/Deputy Mayor.

The positive impact of this political culture is that the

North Sumatran Golkar Party has become a very

stable party, to be present in every general election in

North Sumatra after the reform and always getting

more than 12% of the vote. Although many of the

North Sumatran Golkar Party cadres have moved

parties, it means that the competencies possessed by

each North Sumatran Golkar Party cadre are formed

and fostered with the main focus so that each cadre

has a commitment to ideology, the ideals of the

organization's struggle, is responsible for developing

and fortifying the organization.

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