AbstractsPolitical Science

Indonesia is at a crossroads in building its welfare regime. The study seeks to analyse the salient characteristics and enabling factors that influence Indonesia’s current social policies in light of welfare state theories. The adoption of the Social Security Providers Law in late 2011 underlined the government’s commitment to establishing a universal health insurance system by 2014, implying a stronger role of the state in welfare provisions. Various actors have contributed to the adoption, from political elites to a growing labour movement. At the same time, these developments are running in parallel with expansions of targeted social assistance for the poor by both national and local governments. Based on the findings, this study argues that the Indonesian welfare regime is currently made up of a hybrid of characteristics arising from the three ideal types of welfare states coined by Esping-Andersen (1990), namely liberal, conservative, and social democratic. These characteristics include the continued strong role of families, the increased role of the state, planned universal healthcare, and dominant means-testing policies for the poor. The study also finds a marked increase in mass-based welfare policies within politics, in contrast to the period under Suharto’s governance.