Parliamentary threshold and the quality of democracy in Indonesia: An analysis of party system simplification within the presidential system
Main Article Content
Abstract
The parliamentary threshold has become one of the most debated electoral mechanisms in Indonesia's post-Reform constitutional development because of its implications for party system design, democratic representation, and governmental stability. Although previous studies have examined parliamentary thresholds from legal and electoral perspectives, limited attention has been given to their broader constitutional implications within Indonesia's presidential system. This study addresses this gap by analysing the constitutional role of the parliamentary threshold and proposing a balanced constitutional framework for its future development. Employing normative legal research with statutory, conceptual, comparative, and case approaches, the study analyses constitutional provisions, electoral legislation, Constitutional Court decisions, and comparative constitutional scholarship. The findings indicate that the parliamentary threshold has reduced legislative fragmentation and strengthened governmental stability, but it also raises constitutional concerns regarding political representation, electoral equality, and democratic legitimacy. As its principal novelty, this study develops an integrated constitutional framework based on proportionality, representative democracy, and constitutional equality to evaluate parliamentary threshold regulation. Constitutionally, it argues that parliamentary thresholds should function as adaptive constitutional instruments rather than fixed electoral rules. From a policy perspective, the study recommends periodic evidence-based evaluation of threshold levels to ensure that future electoral reforms promote both effective governance and democratic inclusiveness in Indonesia.
Article Details
How to Cite
Anzari, M., Manar, A. ., & Natasya, S. S. . (2026). Parliamentary threshold and the quality of democracy in Indonesia: An analysis of party system simplification within the presidential system. Journal of Law Science, 8(4), 345-352. https://doi.org/10.35335/jls.v8i4.7367
References
al., H. e. (Sriwijaya Law Review). Simplifying the Multiparty System or Compromising Equality? Legal Challenges and the Current Political Landscape in Indonesia. . Jakarta: 416-431.
Bhaghamma. (2023). A comparative analysis of doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research. ILE Journal of Governance and Policy Review,, 1(1), 88-94.
Bond et al., . (2024). A meta systematic review of artificial intelligence in higher education: A call for increased ethics, collaboration, and rigour. International journal of educational technology in higher education, 21(1), 4.
Braun & Clarke. ( Qualitative psychology). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. 9(1), 3.
Carey & Micozzi. (2024). Presidential, Parliamentary, and Hybrid Forms of Government. Cham:: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Chin et al. (2024). The transparency of quantitative empirical legal research published in highly ranked law journals (2018–2020):. Chin, J., Zeiler, K., Dilevski, N., Holcombe, A., Gatfield-Jeffries, R., Bishop, R., ... & Schiavone, S. (2024). The transpare F1000Re.
Clarke, B. &. (2022). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. . Qualitative psychology, 9(1), 3.
Cohen-Vogel et al. (2025). Any chapter about public policy and the production and use ofresearch inthe begin with. Handbook of Education Policy Research, Policy Research.
Creswell & Plano Clark. (2023). Revisiting mixed methods research designs twenty years later. Handbook of mixed methods research designs, 1(1), 21-36.
Creswell. (2024). My 35 years in mixed methods research. . Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 18(3), 203-215.
Dixon & Landau. (2021). Abusive Constitutional Borrowing: legal globalization and the subversion of liberal democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ginsburg et al. (2024). The entrenchment of democracy: the comparative constitutional design of elections, parties and voting. London: Cambridge University Press.
Gorard. (2024). Judging the relative trustworthiness of research results: . Review of Education, 12(1), e3448.
Hair & Alamer. (2022). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in second language and education research: Guidelines using an applied example. Research methods in applied linguistics, 1(3), 100027.
Hasrul et al. (2025). Simplifying the Multiparty System or Compromising Equality? Legal Challenges and the Current Political Landscape in Indonesia. 416-431.
Helms. (2023). Political oppositions in democratic and authoritarian regimes: A state-of-the-field (s) review. Government and Opposition, , 58(2), 391-414.
Hirschl. (2014). Comparative matters: the renaissance of comparative constitutional law. OUP Oxford.: OUP Oxford.
Hirschl. (2019). Comparative methodologies. The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law,, 11-39.
Improta. (2025). The political functions of the constructive vote of no-confidence: a mixed-method approach. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 1-31.
Khaitan. (2019). Executive aggrandizement in established democracies: A crisis of liberal democratic constitutionalism. constitutionalism.
Medushevskii. (2020). Global Constitutionalism: the Theory of the Global Legal Order or a New Political Ideology?. Historia provinciae-the journal of regional history,, 4(3), 974-1019.
Mietzner. (2020). Indonesian parties revisited: Systemic exclusivism, electoral personalisation and declining intraparty democracy. Democracy in Indonesia: From stagnation to regression, 191-209.
Mosler. (2023). Out of Proportion: The 2019 Electoral Reform and the State of Representative Democracy in South Korea 1. In Politics, International Relations and Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. Peninsula : Routledge.
Norris. (2022). In praise of skepticism: Trust but verify. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pildes. (2023.). Political Fragmentation in the Democracies of the West. BYU J. Pub, 37, 209.
Shugart et al. (2021). Party personnel strategies: Electoral systems and parliamentary committee assignments. University Press.
Zawacki-Richter et al. (2019). Systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education–where are the educators? International journal of educational technology in higher education, , 16(1), 39.
Bhaghamma. (2023). A comparative analysis of doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research. ILE Journal of Governance and Policy Review,, 1(1), 88-94.
Bond et al., . (2024). A meta systematic review of artificial intelligence in higher education: A call for increased ethics, collaboration, and rigour. International journal of educational technology in higher education, 21(1), 4.
Braun & Clarke. ( Qualitative psychology). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. 9(1), 3.
Carey & Micozzi. (2024). Presidential, Parliamentary, and Hybrid Forms of Government. Cham:: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Chin et al. (2024). The transparency of quantitative empirical legal research published in highly ranked law journals (2018–2020):. Chin, J., Zeiler, K., Dilevski, N., Holcombe, A., Gatfield-Jeffries, R., Bishop, R., ... & Schiavone, S. (2024). The transpare F1000Re.
Clarke, B. &. (2022). Conceptual and design thinking for thematic analysis. . Qualitative psychology, 9(1), 3.
Cohen-Vogel et al. (2025). Any chapter about public policy and the production and use ofresearch inthe begin with. Handbook of Education Policy Research, Policy Research.
Creswell & Plano Clark. (2023). Revisiting mixed methods research designs twenty years later. Handbook of mixed methods research designs, 1(1), 21-36.
Creswell. (2024). My 35 years in mixed methods research. . Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 18(3), 203-215.
Dixon & Landau. (2021). Abusive Constitutional Borrowing: legal globalization and the subversion of liberal democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ginsburg et al. (2024). The entrenchment of democracy: the comparative constitutional design of elections, parties and voting. London: Cambridge University Press.
Gorard. (2024). Judging the relative trustworthiness of research results: . Review of Education, 12(1), e3448.
Hair & Alamer. (2022). Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) in second language and education research: Guidelines using an applied example. Research methods in applied linguistics, 1(3), 100027.
Hasrul et al. (2025). Simplifying the Multiparty System or Compromising Equality? Legal Challenges and the Current Political Landscape in Indonesia. 416-431.
Helms. (2023). Political oppositions in democratic and authoritarian regimes: A state-of-the-field (s) review. Government and Opposition, , 58(2), 391-414.
Hirschl. (2014). Comparative matters: the renaissance of comparative constitutional law. OUP Oxford.: OUP Oxford.
Hirschl. (2019). Comparative methodologies. The Cambridge Companion to Comparative Constitutional Law,, 11-39.
Improta. (2025). The political functions of the constructive vote of no-confidence: a mixed-method approach. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 1-31.
Khaitan. (2019). Executive aggrandizement in established democracies: A crisis of liberal democratic constitutionalism. constitutionalism.
Medushevskii. (2020). Global Constitutionalism: the Theory of the Global Legal Order or a New Political Ideology?. Historia provinciae-the journal of regional history,, 4(3), 974-1019.
Mietzner. (2020). Indonesian parties revisited: Systemic exclusivism, electoral personalisation and declining intraparty democracy. Democracy in Indonesia: From stagnation to regression, 191-209.
Mosler. (2023). Out of Proportion: The 2019 Electoral Reform and the State of Representative Democracy in South Korea 1. In Politics, International Relations and Diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. Peninsula : Routledge.
Norris. (2022). In praise of skepticism: Trust but verify. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Pildes. (2023.). Political Fragmentation in the Democracies of the West. BYU J. Pub, 37, 209.
Shugart et al. (2021). Party personnel strategies: Electoral systems and parliamentary committee assignments. University Press.
Zawacki-Richter et al. (2019). Systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education–where are the educators? International journal of educational technology in higher education, , 16(1), 39.
Copyright and Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.