Transactional Political Culture and the Challenges of Public Participation in Indonesian Democracy in the Digital Era

Authors

  • Zafira Maharani Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Intan Lampung, Indonesia Author
  • Naili Nur Azizah Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Intan Lampung, Indonesia Author
  • Tasya Dania Universitas Islam Negeri Raden Intan Lampung, Indonesia Author

Keywords:

Political Culture, Challenges, Public Participation, Indonesian Democracy, Digital Era

Abstract

This study examines transactional political culture and the challenges of public participation in Indonesia’s digital democracy era. The rapid development of information technology and social media has transformed patterns of political communication and public participation, while simultaneously creating new forms of transactional political practices in digital spaces. This study aims to analyze the transformation of transactional political culture in the digital era and its implications for the quality of public participation in Indonesian democracy. The study employed a qualitative approach using library research methods. Data were collected from scientific journals, books, research reports, government documents, and relevant digital media publications. The data were analyzed using content analysis and descriptive-critical analysis techniques to identify patterns of transactional political practices and their influence on digital democratic participation. The findings reveal that transactional political culture remains deeply rooted in Indonesian democracy and has transformed into more complex digital forms through social media, political buzzers, digital propaganda, and information manipulation. Digital political participation tends to become symbolic, emotional, and vulnerable to disinformation and polarization. In addition, social media algorithms and digital communication structures contribute to the strengthening of transactional political networks and elite domination in digital public spaces. The study further finds that strengthening political literacy, digital literacy, and civil society participation is essential for improving the quality of democracy in the digital era. This study contributes to the discourse on digital democracy by offering an integrative perspective on transactional political culture, digital transformation, and public participation in contemporary Indonesian democracy.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Amores, J. J., Escudero-Garrido, M., & González-Baquero, W. (2026). Political communication on gender and sexuality on Twitter/X in Spain (2015–2023): An AI-assisted analysis of sentiment, toxicity and hate speech as drivers of engagement. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 13, 102835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2026.102835

Bakker, L. (2021). Electoral Dynamics in Indonesia: Money Politics, Patronage, and Clientelism at the Grassroots, by Edward Aspinall and Mada Sukmajati (eds). Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 177(1), 128–130. https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-17701002

Barras, C. (2024). Does decentralization boost electoral participation? Revisiting the question in a non-western context. Electoral Studies, 92, 102873. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2024.102873

Bayar, M. C. (2025). Partisan and non-partisan conspiracy theories’ diverging effects on political participation. Electoral Studies, 95, 102920. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2025.102920

Bonita, R., & Wadley, D. (2022). Disposal of government offices in Jakarta pending relocation of the Indonesian capital: an application of multi-criteria analysis. Property Management, 40(4), 591–628. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-10-2020-0068

Campos, I., Fuchs, D., Repo, P., Buth, V., Ng, K., Limão, J., Löfström, E., Lamas, D., & Klöckner, C. (2026). How do citizens envision democratic participation for sustainable futures? A reflection on co-created innovations. Ecological Economics, 244, 108943. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2026.108943

Christner, C., Makhortykh, M., & Gil-Lopez, T. (2025). Populist radical-right attitudes, media trust, and social media reliance: Combining survey and tracking data to investigate predictors of online exposure to disinformation. Telematics and Informatics, 98, 102250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2025.102250

Daoudi, O., Gainous, J., Wagner, K., & Buckles, G. (2025). Digital information consumption, democratic context, perceived corruption and political trust: a global examination. Online Information Review. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-06-2023-0296

Desierto, D. A., & Koyama, M. (2026). The political power of civil society. Journal of Comparative Economics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2026.01.007

Frade, R. D. G. (2026). The digital K9: Affect, social media, and the projection of the police image. Digital Geography and Society, 10, 100163. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diggeo.2026.100163

Hafel, M. (2023). Digital Transformation in Politics and Governance in Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges in the Era of Technological Disruption. Society, 11(2), 742–757. https://doi.org/10.33019/society.v11i2.577

Han, E., Lyu, J. C., & Ling, P. M. (2025). An Exploratory Typology of Tobacco-Related Misleading Content on Social Media: Qualitative Analysis of Instagram and TikTok. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, e78854. https://doi.org/10.2196/78854

Islam, M. A., Nur, S., Mahmud, I., Rakiv, M., Nazneen Noor, R., & Moniruzzaman, M. (2025). Gen Z’s digital uprising in Bangladesh: The role of social media in the fall of a political despot. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 12, 102181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102181

Johnson-Peretz, J., Chamie, G., Kakande, E., Christian, C., Kamya, M. R., Akatukwasa, C., Atwine, F., Havlir, D. V., & Camlin, C. S. (2023). Geographical, social, and political contexts of tuberculosis control and intervention, as reported by mid-level health managers in Uganda: ‘The activity around town.’ Social Science & Medicine, 338, 116363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.116363

Liu, L., Mirkovski, K., Lowry, P. B., & Vu, Q. (2023). “Do as I say but not as I do”: Influence of political leaders’ populist communication styles on public adherence in a crisis using the global case of COVID-19 movement restrictions. Data and Information Management, 7(2), 100039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dim.2023.100039

Mack, B. N., & Martin, T. R. (2024). Party rocking: Exploring the relationship between music preference, partisanship, and political attitudes. Poetics, 102, 101861. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic.2023.101861

Madison, N., & Klang, M. (2020). The Case for Digital Activism: Refuting the Fallacies of Slacktivism. Journal of Digital Social Research, 2(2), 28–47. https://doi.org/10.33621/jdsr.v2i2.25

Ngwenyama, O., Akhlaghpour, S., Hedström, K., Rowe, F., Schlagwein, D., & Tarafdar, M. (2026). Social values dilemmas of the digital society: Considering the implications of pervasive digitalization. Technology in Society, 87, 103376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2026.103376

Pacheco-Ortiz, D., Escobar-Sierra, M., Mayo Diaz, L. G., & Suárez-Monsalve, A.-M. (2026). Polarisation, emotion, and manipulative narratives in digital politics: An AI-powered discourse analysis of Colombian women politicians on Instagram®. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 13, 102604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2026.102604

Sajida, S. (2026). The expansion of military influence in Indonesia’s governance: A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of media narratives. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 13, 102428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.102428

Saud, M., Ida, R., Mashud, M., Yousaf, F. N., & Ashfaq, A. (2023). Cultural dynamics of digital space: Democracy, civic engagement and youth participation in virtual spheres. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 97, 101904. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2023.101904

Saud, M., & Margono, H. (2021). Indonesia’s rise in digital democracy and youth’s political participation. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 18(4), 443–454. https://doi.org/10.1080/19331681.2021.1900019

Schuessler, E., Maric, S., & Dobusch, L. (2026). Digital platforms and democratic publics: How social media platforms selectively appropriate and strategically subvert institutional logics. Information and Organization, 36(1), 100612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infoandorg.2026.100612

Shi, X., Ling, G. H. T., Alalouch, C., Leng, P. C., Lim, S. B., Rashid, M. F. A., & Rahmat, A. (2025). Smart cities and public participation: a bibliometric analysis and conceptualization of the social-ecological system framework. Open House International, 50(5), 904–927. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-11-2024-0372

Suherlan, S. (2023). Digital Technology Transformation in Enhancing Public Participation in Democratic Processes. Technology and Society Perspectives (TACIT), 1(1), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.61100/tacit.v1i1.34

Wahyu Abdul Jafar. (2022). Political Buzzer In Islamic Law And Its Impact On Muslim Society. Hamdard Islamicus, 45(3). https://doi.org/10.57144/hi.v45i3.491

Widlak, A. C., & Peeters, R. (2025). A theory of the infrastructure-level bureaucracy: Understanding the consequences of data-exchange for procedural justice, organizational decision-making, and data itself. Government Information Quarterly, 42(2), 102021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2025.102021

Zanabazar, G., Mohi Ud Din, Q., & Hong, T. (2026). How digital literacy shapes the conversion of political awareness into participation: A cross-national comparative study of Mongolia and China. Computers in Human Behavior, 179, 108946. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2026.108946

Downloads

Published

2026-04-15

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 01 (2026): Al-Manarah; Journal of Education and Islamic Studies

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Al-Manarah; Journal of Education and Islamic Studies

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Transactional Political Culture and the Challenges of Public Participation in Indonesian Democracy in the Digital Era (Z. Maharani, N. N. Azizah, & T. . Dania , Trans.). (2026). Al-Manarah; Journal of Education and Islamic Studies, 1(01), 73-83. https://journal.pergunulampung.or.id/index.php/almanarah/article/view/212