Money Has No Power
New Evidence of Regional Head Elections in Indonesia
Keywords:
The Power of Money, Democracy for Sale, Local Politics, OligarchyAbstract
Banyak penelitian yang menunjukkan bahwa uang memiliki kekuatan dalam kontestasi politik di Indonesia, seperti penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Burhanuddin Muhtadi, Edward Aspinall dan lain-lain. Penelitian ini justru menunjukkan temuan sebaliknya: uang tidak menunjukkan kekuatan dalam kontestasi politik di Indonesia. Hal ini berdasarkan temuan dari pemilihan kepala daerah yang diselenggarakan secara serentak di 270 daerah di Indonesia periode 2020-2025. Sebanyak 60 pengusaha menjadi calon kepala daerah dan wakilnya. Dari jumlah tersebut, hanya 17 pasangan pengusaha yang menjadi calon kepala daerah dan memenangkan kontestasi atau setara dengan 28,3 persen. Sebanyak 43 pasangan pengusaha kalah, atau setara dengan 71,7 persen. Hal ini relevan dengan survei Kompas yang dilakukan pada Juli 2020 yang menunjukkan 69,4 persen pemilih tidak memperhatikan politik uang yang dibagikan para calon. Pemilih tetap menerima uang yang dibagikan tetapi memilih sesuai hati nuraninya. Uang bukan faktor utama yang menjadi penentu kemenangan calon kepala daerah. Ada banyak faktor lain, seperti komunukasi dan kedekatan calon kepala daerah dengan pemilih. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode analitik-kualitatif, dan teknik pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan cara mencari dokumen pada media daring terpercaya, baik media nasional maupun media lokal. Tidak kalah menarik apabila penelitian selanjutnya difokuskan pada apakah keterlibatan pelaku bisnis dalam pemilihan kepala daerah lebih berhasil ketika mereka menjadi investor politik atau calon langsung.
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