Cultural Legitimacy, Electoral Pragmatism, and Digital Political Communication of the National Awakening Party
Keywords:
Islamic politics; cultural Islamic party; political pragmatism; PKB; Indonesian democracy.Abstract
Studies on Islamic political parties in Indonesia have largely focused on ideological debates between Islam and democracy or descriptive analyses of electoral behaviour, leaving limited attention to the strategic transformation of cultural Islamic parties in contemporary electoral politics. This article examines the role of Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB) in Indonesian Islamic politics, asking three interrelated questions: how does PKB's cultural Islamic identity function as both a resource and a constraint in electoral competition? What mechanisms explain its transition from grassroots democratic education towards electoral pragmatism? Moreover, under what conditions does digital outreach reinforce rather than erode its traditional Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) base? Employing a critical narrative review of peer-reviewed journal articles, academic books, theses, and relevant political documents, this study synthesises scholarship from 1998 to 2024. The conceptual framework draws on Schwedler's inclusion-moderation thesis, Bayat's post-Islamism perspective, Pitkin's typology of representation, and Hefner's civil Islam framework. The findings reveal four interrelated patterns: PKB's cultural Islamic identity functions as a strategic resource that differentiates it within Indonesia's Islamic political spectrum; during the early Reformasi period (1999-2008) it served as an agent of grassroots democratic socialisation; from 2010 to 2020 a calculated shift towards electoral pragmatism unfolded; and the 2024 General Election demonstrated an adaptive integration of cultural legitimacy, policy-based representation, and digital outreach. The study contributes a theoretically grounded reconceptualisation of PKB as a culturally rooted yet strategically adaptive political actor, illustrating broader dynamics of moderation, identity negotiation, and democratic consolidation in contemporary Indonesian politics.
References
Adila, I., & Eddyono, S. (2025). Platform Politics and Party Identity Construction in Indonesia. Jurnal Komunikasi Politik, 7(1), 1–22.
Anwar, F. (2015). Partai Islam di Indonesia. Rajawali.
Aprimayanti, N. (2025). Kekuatan PKB dalam Pemilu 2024: Antara Basis Tradisional dan Pemilih Muda. Jurnal Politik Indonesia, 18(1), 55–74.
As'ad, M. (2013). PKB dan politik kebangsaan. LP3ES.
Aspinall, E., & Mietzner, M. (2019). Indonesia's Democratic Paradox: Competitive Elections amidst Rising Illiberalism. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 55(3), 295–317. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2019.1690412
Azra, A. (2006). Islam in the Indonesian World: An Account of Institutional Formation. Mizan.
Bakti, A. (2015). Islam Kultural dan PKB dalam Demokrasi Indonesia. Jurnal Politik Islam, 7(2), 123–140.
Barton, G. (2002). Abdurrahman Wahid: Muslim Democrat, Indonesian President. University of Hawai'i Press.
Barton, G. (2014). Islam and Democratic Governance in Indonesia. Asian Politics & Policy, 6(2), 253–270.
Bayat, A. (2013). Post-Islamism: The Changing Faces of Political Islam. Oxford University Press.
DPR RI. (2024). Rekapitulasi Hasil Pemilu DPR 2024. Sekretariat Jenderal DPR RI.
Duverger, M. (1954). Political Parties: Their Organization and Activity in the Modern State. Methuen.
Fealy, G., & Bush, R. (2014). The Political Decline of Traditional Ulama in Indonesia: The State, Ummah, and Nahdlatul Ulama. Asian Journal of Social Science, 42(5), 536–560. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685314-04205003
Fealy, G., & White, S. (Eds.). (2008). Expressing Islam: Religious Life and Politics in Indonesia. ISEAS Publishing.
Hadiz, V. R. (2016). Islamic Populism in Indonesia and the Middle East. Cambridge University Press.
Hamayotsu, K. (2011). The Limits of Civil Islam: Indonesian Muslim Politics and the Religion of Bureaucracy. Asian Survey, 51(4), 693–712.
Hefner, R. W. (2000). Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia. Princeton University Press.
Hefner, R. W. (2011). Shari'a Politics: Islamic Law and Society in the Modern World. Indiana University Press.
Hefner, R. W. (2020). Islam and Democratic Consolidation in Indonesia. Journal of Democracy, 31(2), 56–70.
Huda, M. (2010). NU dan PKB: Representasi Politik Umat. Airlangga Press.
Humaidi, A. (2010). Pendidikan Politik PKB di Kabupaten Probolinggo (Master's Thesis). Universitas Indonesia.
Komisi Pemilihan Umum. (2024). Keputusan KPU No. 1205/2024: Penetapan Perolehan Kursi Partai Politik. KPU RI.
Lestari, S. (2020). Strategi Elektoral PKB di Pemilu 2019. Jurnal Ilmu Politik, 15(1), 45–60.
Liddle, R. W. (2013). Indonesia in 2012: A Year of Electoral Contests. Asian Survey, 53(1), 33–44.
Lim, M. (2017). Freedom to Hate: Social Media, Algorithmic Enclaves, and the Rise of Tribal Nationalism in Indonesia. Critical Asian Studies, 49(3), 411–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2017.1341188
Mietzner, M. (2008). Military Politics, Islam, and the State in Indonesia: From turbulent transition to democratic consolidation. ISEAS Publishing.
Mietzner, M. (2018). Fighting illiberalism with Illiberalism: Islamist Populism and Democratic Deconsolidation in Indonesia. Pacific Affairs, 91(2), 261–282.
Mietzner, M. (2023). Indonesia's Political Parties in the Digital Era. Asian Survey, 63(3), 411–435.
Mujani, S. (2018). Political Islam in Contemporary Indonesia. Asian Survey, 58(4), 701–728. https://doi.org/10.1525/as.2018.58.4.701
Mujani, S., Liddle, R. W., & Ambardi, K. (2018). Voting Behavior in Indonesia since Democratization: Critical Democrats. Cambridge University Press.
Munawar, M. (2020). PKB dan Konsolidasi Politik Islam di Sumatera Utara. Jurnal Politik Lokal, 12(2), 88–105.
Nashir, H. (2007). Islam dan Politik di Indonesia. Pustaka Pelajar.
Noor, F. (2012). Islam, Politics and Identity in Southeast Asia: PKS and beyond. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 31(2), 31–59.
Noor, F. (2022). The Evolution of Islamic Parties in Southeast Asia. Oxford University Press.
Norris, P., & Inglehart, R. (2019). Cultural backlash: Trump, Brexit, and Authoritarian Populism. Cambridge University Press.
Nurhuda, et al. (2025). Qualitative Systematic Reviews in Indonesian Political Science: A Methodological Assessment. Jurnal Penelitian Politik, 22(1), 1–18.
Pitkin, H. F. (1967). The Concept of Representation. University of California Press.
Putra, et al. (2025). Digital Campaigning and Voter Engagement in the 2024 Indonesian Election. Jurnal Studi Pemilihan Umum, 5(1), 33–55.
Ricklefs, M. C. (2012). Islamisation and Its Opponents in Java: A Political, Social, Cultural and Religious History. NUS Press.
Rifki, A. (2025). Dinamika Hubungan Islam dan Negara: Studi Partai Politik Islam di Indonesia. Jurnal Pemikiran Politik Islam, 20(1), 1–20.
Rois, M. (2024). Party Branding and Social Media in Indonesian Electoral Politics. Jurnal Komunikasi, 18(2), 110–128.
Safitri, D. (2024). Media Centres and Party Communication in Indonesian Local Elections. Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi, 21(1), 45–63.
Sartori, G. (1976). Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis. Cambridge University Press.
Schwedler, J. (2006). Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen. Cambridge University Press.
Sijabat, M. (2025). Narrative Reviews in Political Islam Scholarship. Indonesian Political Science Review, 10(1), 22–40.
Suryadinata, L. (2021). The State of Islamic Politics in Indonesia: From Plurality to Polarisation. ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
Thaba, A. A. (1996). Islam dan Negara di Indonesia: Telaah Politik Islam. Gema Insani.
Triantoro, D. A. (2024). Digital Volunteering and Horizontal Mobilisation in Indonesian Party Campaigns. Jurnal Sosiologi Politik, 6(1), 1–20.
Zuhri, S. (2021). NU, PKB, and the Politics of Representation in Indonesia. Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 11(2), 221–247. https://doi.org/10.18326/ijims.v11i2.221-247
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Dwi Agus Prayitno, Umi Sumbulah, Sugiyar, Agus Purnomo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The author(s) retain/s the copyright and grant/s Muharrik: Jurnal Dakwah dan Sosial the first publication rights licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) , which allows others to access (search, read, download and quote), share (copy and redistribute the material in any media or format) and adapt (mix, modify and develop) works for legitimate non-commercial purposes, with recognition of the authorship of the work and its initial publication in this journal.
