The Failure of the ‘Playing Victim’ Strategy in Gaining Support: A Study of the 2024 Presidential Election in Indonesia

Rofiq Rofiq; Agus Supratikno Agus

doi:10.21580/jpw.v7i1.25567

Authors

Rofiq UIN Walisongo Semarang, Indonesia, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9075-8680
Agus Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6097-9068

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21580/jpw.v7i1.25567

Keywords:

2024 Election, Playing Victim, electoral democracy, presidential election

Abstract

This article explains the depictions of candidate figures in the 2024 presidential election. The aim of this study is to find out how to portray presidential candidates as victims who are persecuted by the cruelty of the authorities who side with the candidate team of Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka. The important question raised in this research is why the scenario of becoming a victim needs to be carried out. The main reason is because the team of Anis Rasyid Baswedan and Muhaimin Iskandar, as well as Ganjar Pranowo and Mahfudz MD did not receive support from President Jokowi. So, to get help from the voters, these two teams created a scenario of becoming victims, in order to get electoral support. In this research, we chose to use a qualitative method with a case study approach with the aim of being able to see and hear more closely the various election experiences in Indonesia, especially after the collapse of the New Order regime. The focus of the study is directed at constructing how to gain electoral support in the face of non-neutrality of government officials, politicization of social assistance, engineering of legal rules, and politicization in other forms which result in creating a backlash to gain sympathy from voters in the election. This article specifically discusses the dynamics of the 2024 presidential election in Indonesia.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Rofiq, UIN Walisongo Semarang, Indonesia

Dr Rofiq is a Lecturer in Political Science at Walisongo Islamic University, Semarang.

Agus, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana Salatiga

Dr. Agus Supratikno is a lecturer at Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga.

References

Akin, Z. (2022). Playing the victim behavior: An experimental study. Munich Personal RePEc Archive.

Almond, G. (1990). “The study of political culture.” in G. Almond (ed.), A discipline divided: Schools & sects in Political Science. Sage Publication.

Almond, G., & Verba, S. (1989). The civic culture: Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Sage Publication.

Antara, (13 December 2023). https://www.antaranews.com/berita/3869898/timnas-amin-kajian-pembangunan-ikn-harus-diketahui-masyarakat

Armaly, M., Adam, T., & Enders, M. (2021). ‘Why me?’ The role of perceived victimhood in American politics. Springer.

Bayley, J. E. (1991). The concept of victimhood. In To be a victim (pp. 53–62). Springer.

Campbell, B., & Manning, J. (2018). The rise of victimhood culture: Microaggressions, safe spaces, and the new culture wars. Springer.

Chang, L. Y. C., Mukherjee, S., & Coppel, N. (2020). We are all victims: Questionable content and collective victimisation in the digital age. Asian Journal of Criminology.

Chouliaraki, L. (2020). Victimhood: The affective politics of vulnerability. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 1–18.

Diamond, L. (1994). Political culture and democracy in developing countries. Lynne Riener Publishers.

Druliolle, V., & Brett, R. (2018). Introduction: Understanding the construction of victimhood and the evolving role of victims in transitional justice and peacebuilding. In The politics of victimhood in post-conflict societies (pp. 1–22). Springer.

Emerson, D. (1976). Indonesia’s elite: Political culture and cultural politics. Cornell University Press.

Enders, A. M., & Armaly, M. T. (2019). The differential effects of actual and perceived polarization. Political Behavior, 41(3), 815–839.

Faisal, M. (2016). Mantan wartawan Jawa Pos Radar Malang yang saat ini sebagai Chief Editor Media Santri NU (MSN)/mediasantrinu.com, santri Sholawatul Qur’an Banyuwangi dan Sabilurrosyad Gasek Malang.

Feith, H. (1962). The decline of constitutional democracy in Indonesia. Cornell University Press. pp. 113-123.

Fraser, N. (2000) Rethinking recognition. New Left Review, 3, 107–120.

Garkawe, S. (2004). Revisiting the scope of victimology how broad a discipline should it be? International Review of Victimology, 11(2–3), 275–294.

Geertz, C. (1960). The religion of Java. Free Press.

Geertz, C. (1973). The interpretation of culture: Selected essays. Basic Books. p. 89.

Gharib (2021). Narratives in America: The connection between affective polarization and victimhood in the 2020 US election. Hoda Candidate University of Toronto Selected Papers of #AoIR2021: The 22nd Annual Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers Virtual Event / 13-16 Oct 2021

Harsanyi, J. C. (1980). A bargaining model for social status in informal groups and formal organizations. In Essays on ethics, social behavior, and scientific explanation (pp. 204–224). Springer.

Horwitz, R. B. (2018). Politics as victimhood, victimhood as politics. Journal of Policy History, 30(3), 552–574.

Huddy, L., Mason, L., & Aarøe, L. (2015). Expressive partisanship: Campaign involvement, political emotion, and partisan identity. American Political Science Review, 109(1), 1–17.

Jacoby, T. A. (2015). A theory of victimhood: Politics, conflict, and the construction of victim-based identity. Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 43(2) 511–530.

Lawther, C. (2020). ‘Let me tell you’: Transitional justice, victimhood, and dealing with a contested past. Social & Legal Studies, 1–23.

Liddle, W. (1988). Politics and culture in Indonesia. The Ohio State University, Centre for Political Studies Institute for Social Research The University of Michigan, 1988, p. 1.

Marijan, K. (1999). The study of political culture in Indonesia, 12(2), 57-66.

Myler, S. F. (2017). Playing the victim: A psychological perspective. Psychology and Behavioral Science International Journal, Open University.

Nagy, R. (2006) Post-apartheid justice: Can cosmopolitanism and nation-building be reconciled?, Law & Society Review, 40, 623–652.

Nainggolan, B. (21 February 2024). Tiga penyebab Prabowo-Gibran Unggul. Kompas. https://www.kompas.id/baca/riset/2024/02/21/tiga-penyebab-prabowo-gibran-unggul

Setiawan, K. M. P., & Tomsa, D. (2023). Defending a vulnerable yet resilient democracy: Civil society activism in Jokowi’s Indonesia. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 42(3) 350–371.

Shklar, J. (1990). The faces of injustice. Yale University Press.

Smith, J. A. (2009). Psikologi kualitatif: Panduan praktis metode riset. Terjemahan dari Qualitative Psychology A Practical Guide to Research Method. Pustaka Pelajar.

Smith, J. A., Flowers, P., & Larkin, M. (2009). Interpretative phenomenological analysis: Theory, method, and research. Sage.

Stephenson, W. (1967). The play theory of mass communication. University of Chicago Press.

Weber, M. (1946). Class, status, party. In From Max Weber, H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (eds.). Oxford University Press. 181–187.

Wilke, C. (2007). Recognizing victimhood: Politics and narratives of rehabilitation in Germany. Journal of Human Rights, 6, 479–496.

Zink, C. F., Tong, Y., Chen, Q., Bassett, D. S., Stein, J. L., & Meyer-Lindenberg, A. (2008). Know your place: Neural processing of social hierarchy in humans. Neuron, 58(2), 273–283.

Zitek, E. M., Jordan, A. H., Monin, B., & Leach, F. R. (2010). Victim entitlement to behave selfishly. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(2), 245–255.