p–ISSN: 2723 - 6609 e-ISSN: 2745-5254

Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2023 http://jist.publikasiindonesia.id/

Doi : 10.59141/jist.v4i8.663 1142

REVIEW OF POLITICAL REPRESENTATION THROUGH

REPRESENTATIVE-CONSTITUENT RELATIONS: CASE STUDY OF

MEMBERS OF THE DPR-RI 2014-2019 WEST JAVA ELECTORAL DISTRICT

IX PDI-STRUGGLE FACTION MARUARAR SIRAIT

Rafifrian Evandio

, Chusnul Mar’iyah

, Mulyadi

University of Indonesia Depok, Indonesia

Email: [email protected]

*Correspondence

ARTICLE INFO

ABSTRACT

Accepted

: 04-08-2023

Revised

: 18-08-2023

Approved

: 19-08-2023

Political parties play a crucial role as a means of public political

participation and are expected to serve as institutions for educating the

public about politics. This creates an obligation for political parties to

provide political education to the public. This research aims to analyze

the role of political parties in implementing political education for the

public. The method used is a literature review. Data collection involves

studying various secondary sources, including books, scientific journals,

expert opinions, and other relevant sources related to the research

problem. The analysis is carried out descriptively and qualitatively to

elaborate on the research findings. Political parties are organized groups

with members who share common goals and values, primarily seeking

political power based on their policies. They encourage political

participation by seeking and educating the public to engage in political

activities. The function of political parties in providing political

education to the public aims to enhance the understanding of good

political culture among the public. Political parties can collaborate with

the public in conducting political education through political

socialization, political education, and campaigning. Such political

education should help prevent the occurrence of money politics, black

campaigns, and vote-buying during elections.

Keywords: political parties;

political education; general

elections; public political

participation.

Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Introduction

Indonesia is a democratic country, where the government stands based on the

mandate of the people, and at the same time, the people have the task to guard its

sustainability (Arifin, 2018). This then shows that the main strength of democracy lies in

the ability of its citizens to escort the process of government. Therefore, in the

implementation of democracy, the political role of the community is needed so that what

the community aspires to achieve for their country. This then shows the important role of

political participation (Sanusi, 2016).

The political participation of the Indonesian people in the last 6 general elections

can be said to be quite good (Wardhani, 2018). Figure 1 shows the level of political

participation of the Indonesian people in the last 6 general elections. This shows that there

is a fairly good participation rate in the general election of Oman in Indonesia which has

reached 81.9 percent in the 2019 Presidential and Vice Presidential elections, although it

can be noted that this has decreased to 76.9 percent in 2020 in the general election of

Review Of Political Representation Through Representative-Constituent Relations: Case Study

Of Members Of The Dpr-Ri 2014-2019 West Java Electoral District Ix Pdi-Struggle Faction

Maruarar Sirait

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2023 1143

Regional Heads (Arniti, 2020). The decline may be due to its implementation during the

Covid-19 pandemic.

Figure 1

The level of political participation of the Indonesian people in the last 6 general

elections

This then shows that although the level of political participation of the Indonesian

people can be said to be quite good, this shows a need for improvement (Sutrisman, 2019).

One of the efforts to increase the level of political participation in the community can be

achieved by conducting political education. Political education refers to a series of

activities and activities carried out to be able to fulfill the objectives of forming moral

values and shaping one's political orientation (Lestari, Azikin, & Rahim, 2020). Political

education in the field can encourage the level of public participation in state political

activities.

Political education is a process that teaches people about political values, norms,

and symbols, one of which is through the role of political parties (Rahman & Suharno,

2020). The constitution has given political parties responsibility for the means of political

participation. This then makes it an important part of the democratic state order and at the

same time a characteristic of political modernization in a country. The role of political

parties in carrying out political education has been mandated by the state through Law

Number 2 of 2008 concerning Political Parties in Article 11 paragraph (1) letter a, which

reads: Political parties function as a means: political education for members and the wider

community to become Indonesian citizens who are aware of their rights and obligations

in the life of society, nation, and state (Nurdin, 2019).

People's participation in political activities must then be based on an adequate

understanding of politics. This requires adequate political education provided by political

parties. Political education carried out by political parties is not only limited to the cadres

of the political party itself but to all elements of society. Therefore, political parties then

have a role as a means of community political participation which must be supported by

Rafifrian Evandio, Chusnul Mar’iyah, Mulyadi

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, Agustus 2023 1144

their role as community political education institutions (Nurdin, 2019). This then presents

an obligation for political parties to provide political education to the public.

Political education is one of the important functions that must be played by political

parties. Political education is a process of teaching the public about political values,

norms, and symbols through the media in the form of schools, governments, and political

parties (Sukmawati & Rafni, 2020). Political education shows the process of learning

about political knowledge carried out to form politically aware individuals. According to

Kartono, political education leads to educational efforts so that it can create individuals

who are politically aware and have responsible political actors. Political education then

shows a conscious effort in interpreting the attitudes and behaviors of individuals and

society so that they understand and live the values contained in an ideal political system

that wants to be built in the context of society and the country in which they are located

(Sastrawati, 2021).

There have been various preliminary studies that have been conducted in analyzing

the role of political parties in political education to the public. Hermawan analyzed the

role of political parties in political education to the public with a focus on campaign

efforts carried out by political parties carried out through various media (Saputro, 2021).

Another research was conducted by analyzing based on the perspective of the legal

politics of the laws and regulations. In addition, some analyses are based on current

legislation and Islamic law. Analysis of the role of political parties in political education

has also been carried out through reviews that focus on specific parties, such as research

focusing on the Prosperous Justice Party. This can also be done by focusing on the area

of implementation of political education such as studies conducted in Medan City and

Campalagian District.

Based on the background of the study, this study aims to analyze the role of political

parties in political education for the community.

Research Methods

This research was carried out with a skin-active research method with a literature

study approach. A literature study is a scientific and theoretical study conducted on

several references in various scientific literature. The scientific literature can be in the

form of books, scientific journals, expert opinions, and so on. Therefore, data collection

in this study is carried out by conducting document studies on various secondary sources

including books, scientific journals, expert opinions, and other sources relevant to the

research problem. The data that has been collected is then analyzed descriptively-

qualitatively to describe the research findings. Qualitative descriptive analysis will

provide a simple qualitative approach where the explanation begins with an explanation

of an event that is the focus of research so that a generalization can then be drawn that is

used as a conclusion from the study. The validity and reliability of the data will be tested

using triangulation of data sources. In this case, the data obtained are cross-tested

between one source and another so that reliable and valid data is obtained.

Review Of Political Representation Through Representative-Constituent Relations: Case Study

Of Members Of The Dpr-Ri 2014-2019 West Java Electoral District Ix Pdi-Struggle Faction

Maruarar Sirait

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2023 1145

Results and Discussion

1. Political education by political parties

Political parties can cooperate with the community in conducting political

education which in practice can be carried out with several efforts including the

following:

a. Political socialization

Political socialization shows a series of processes that target a person so that he has

a certain attitude and orientation in the political phenomenon in which he is. This

socialization process occurs continuously from childhood to adulthood. The process of

political socialization can have many forms including lectures, courses given to parati

cadres, upgrading, and so on (Sahati, Lapian, & Lengkong, 2022). Political socialization

serves to develop and strengthen people's political attitudes. This can involve various

parties including families, schools, and other institutions to increase people's political

knowledge. Political socialization serves to increase public knowledge and understanding

of political life and encourage maximum participation in people's political life.

b. Political education

Political education refers to a series of organized and effective activities carried out

deliberately and systematically to shape individuals to be ethically responsible

participants in achieving political goals. Political education shows a dialogical process

between the school environment, government, and political parties towards individuals

carried out to increase understanding, appreciation, and practice of political values,

norms, and symbols that are considered ideal and good.

Political parties can conduct political education through various media. The party

can conduct internal recruitment to conduct cadres, hold meetings, or open restrictions,

conduct various social activities, and publish information through the media. And so on.

It's just that, among the media, the media that political parties often use to reach larger

constituencies are mass media, both print and electronic (Meifilina, 2021). Print media

can be newspapers and magazines or other tabloids and bulletins, while electronic media

can be radio, television, and currently the internet. The use of social media in today's era

has become one of the channels in important political education, especially when political

parties target the younger generation.

c. Campaign

Campaigning is one of the most common forms of political education by political

parties. Campaign activities are generally carried out in the moments before the general

election. This is done by gathering as many masses as possible in a place (Indrayanti,

2019). This was followed by attracting the sympathy of the masses by making speeches

containing the party's goals. In addition, it also presented the programs that will be run by

the political party, if the party wins the general election in the future. The campaign is

one of the educational means carried out to influence the masses as much as possible with

the aim of winning seats in general elections.

Political education is important to ensure that people have a comprehensive

understanding of democracy, the electoral system, and the party system. These three

Rafifrian Evandio, Chusnul Mar’iyah, Mulyadi

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, Agustus 2023 1146

issues are rudimentary, which people should know before they participate in political

activities such as elections. With these three things, voters have a mature mind in

addressing political dynamics and do not ignore the democratization process in the

country.

2. Functions of political education by political parties

Political education is expected to form a society that has a good political culture.

Political culture shows the attitude and orientation of citizens towards the political system

and its parts including attitudes to the role of citizens in it. The existence of a good

political culture in society can be characterized by avoiding society from political

deviations as follows:

a. Money politics

Money politics is an attempt to influence others by using material rewards or can

also be interpreted as buying and selling votes in the political process and power and the

act of distributing money either personal or party property to influence voters' votes. The

existence of money politics causes high political costs for contestants, which then raises

the potential for corruption in the future. Political education is then seen as one of the

good ways of prevention in overcoming the existence of money politics.

Political education is carried out to increase people's political awareness so that they

can carry out their political activities, especially in general elections, which avoid money

politics by showing an attitude that firmly rejects and reports all money political practices.

Political education to avoid money politics can be done by encouraging candidates, and

successful teams not to lure or promise to give something to the public to vote for

legislative and executive candidates. Meanwhile, the public is advised not to accept

anything either in the form of money or goods and/or certain promises from successful

teams or candidates in exchange for voting in general elections.

b. Black campaign

The term black campaign comes from the English black campaign which means

how to campaign badly or maliciously. This refers to campaign efforts carried out by

spreading the ugliness or ugliness of a politician to bring down the good name of a

politician so that he becomes disliked by his party friends, the audience of his supporters,

and the general public. The black campaign leads to violations of the provisions of laws

and regulations regarding General Elections in Indonesia.

Black campaigning is an illegal political activity, therefore political education is

needed to prevent public involvement in illegal political activities. The Black campaign

had a devastating impact on political education. This is because this type of campaign

justifies all means including dirty practices such as falsification of information and

complaints. If political education is not obtained by the people, it can be said that the

quality of democracy is built in bad conditions. Good education in the campaign process

is so that the public knows the ideas brought by political candidates, educates about ideas

and solutions for the country, and always provides factual campaign information to the

public.

c. White Group

Review Of Political Representation Through Representative-Constituent Relations: Case Study

Of Members Of The Dpr-Ri 2014-2019 West Java Electoral District Ix Pdi-Struggle Faction

Maruarar Sirait

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2023 1147

Low political knowledge has caused people to ignore various political issues and

activities. This has then caused people to become apathetic to the current political

dynamics and various processes of democratic stages. This can ultimately cause people

to be reluctant to participate in elections. The reluctance of the public to participate in

politics can be seen in people who do not exercise their right to vote during the general

election, commonly called the white group (logout). This phenomenon is widely found

in various countries, including Indonesia.

Political education then became one of the ways that was seen as effective to be

able to increase public participation in elections and reduce the white group. Political

education is considered to provide a learning process and understanding of the rights,

obligations, and responsibilities of every citizen in the life of the nation and state. This

is mainly related to the political participation of citizens carried out to be able to

encourage development. Political education will then provide an understanding of the

importance of political participation that can be used to direct the government in the

interests of citizens.

3. Analysis of Findings

Political parties as the driving force for the establishment of democracy are a means

for citizens to participate in the process of state administration and a means to achieve

goals that lead to the control of political office for elite members of political parties.

Increasing people's political participation requires political awareness that can be

achieved through political education. Political education can only succeed when political

institutions can perform their role well. Therefore, political parties in increasing political

participation then need to play an important role in political education.

Political parties encourage political participation by seeking and educating the

public to participate in political activities. This is by the function of political parties

according to Budiardjo, namely as a means of political communication, a means of

political socialization, a means of political recruitment, and a means of managing

conflicts. Political parties as a means of political communication must be able to channel

people's opinions and at the same time regulate these opinions to prevent confusion of

opinion in society. As a means of political socialization, political parties are tasked with

disseminating politics itself with the expected results in the form of people who have

attitudes and orientations towards political phenomena in a country. Political parties as a

means of political recruitment have caused political parties to try to gather members who

are considered talented to actively participate in political activities as party members.

Finally, in its function as a means of managing conflict, political parties play a role in

efforts to overcome potential conflicts in society generated by competition and

differences of opinion in society.

Based on this explanation, it can be concluded that a political party is an organized

group and its members have the same orientation and values the same ideals with the

main goal of obtaining political power based on their wisdom. Political parties encourage

political participation by seeking and educating the public to participate in political

Rafifrian Evandio, Chusnul Mar’iyah, Mulyadi

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, Agustus 2023 1148

activities. The function of political parties in providing political education for the public

aims to increase people's understanding of good political culture.

4. Discussion

Political education is a process of teaching the public about political values, norms,

and symbols through the media in the form of schools, governments, and political parties.

Political education leads to conscious efforts made by an institution or body to influence

people's political knowledge so that an ideal understanding and appreciation of values in

a political system that the country will build. Political education is important, especially

in encouraging the involvement of the younger generation who have an awareness of the

life of the nation and state based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution. It is also seen

as a means in the development of Indonesian people so that it will be seen in how they

behave in social life.

Political education is expected to encourage a change in people's attitudes from

apathy and passivity to active, full of initiative, advanced, and democratic, towards

political problems in a country. It is based on the idea that everyone is expected to be able

to participate in the development of society and the country by participating in political

activities. Citizens are also required to be active in efforts to dynamize and renovate

community institutions, and their political systems. In the end, political education expects

a change in people's attitudes, especially in the form of political participation.

The findings in this study show that political parties carry out their role in political

education by collaborating with the community through political socialization, political

education, and campaigns. In addition, it was also found that political education has a

function to prevent people from implementing negative political cultures such as money

politics, black campaigns, and white groups. This then has practical implications that

political parties must be able to design the right strategy in implementing political

socialization strategies, political education, and campaigns to increase people's political

participation and at the same time build a good political culture in society. Moreover, the

theoretical implication of this research is that the implementation of a good political

education by political parties will contribute to the formation of people's political culture

by avoiding money politics, black campaigns, and white groups. The limitation of this

research lies in the approach method used, namely by using literature studies. This then

leads to the need for empirical research in the future in reviewing political education

practices carried out by political parties to be able to provide deeper insights into their

practice in society.

Conclusion

This paper has analyzed the role of political parties in the implementation of

political education for the community. Based on the analysis that has been done, research

findings show that political parties can cooperate with the community in conducting

political education which in practice can be carried out by political socialization, political

education, and campaigns. Political parties have various functions, including the crucial

one as a means of political socialization and a means of political recruitment. This is done

Review Of Political Representation Through Representative-Constituent Relations: Case Study

Of Members Of The Dpr-Ri 2014-2019 West Java Electoral District Ix Pdi-Struggle Faction

Maruarar Sirait

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2023 1149

by conducting political education through the search and recruitment of people to

participate in political activities. It also involves political education to increase people's

understanding of good political culture.

Rafifrian Evandio, Chusnul Mar’iyah, Mulyadi

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, Agustus 2023 1150

Bibliography

Arifin, Hafidz Putra. (2018). Politik Hukum Perlindungan Cagar Budaya di Indonesia.

Dialogia Iuridica: Jurnal Hukum Bisnis Dan Investasi, 10(1), 65–76.

Arniti, Ni Ketut. (2020). Partisipasi Politik Masyarakat Dalam Pemilihan Umum

Legislatif Di Kota Denpasar. Jurnal Ilmiah Dinamika Sosial, 4(2), 329–348.

https://doi.org/10.38043/jids.v4i2.2496

Indrayanti, Ratna Dewi. (2019). Kampanye sebagai Komunikasi Politik: Peran Tingkat

Pendidikan Seseorang dalam Menyikapi Kampanye Ditinjau dari Etika dan

Pendidikan Politik.

Lestari, Dewi Sri, Azikin, Ruskin, & Rahim, Samsir. (2020). Strategi Komisi Pemilihan

Umum Dalam Meningkatkan Partisipasi Politik Pemilih Pemula Pada Pemilihan

Bupati dan Wakil Bupati 2018 di Kabupaten Pinrang. Kajian Ilmiah Mahasiswa

Administrasi Publik (KIMAP), 1(1), 1–13.

Meifilina, Andiwi. (2021). Media Sosial sebagai Strategi Komunikasi Politik Partai

Golkar dalam Melakukan Pendidikan Politik. Jurnal Komunikasi Nusantara, 3(2),

101–110. https://doi.org/10.33366/jkn.v3i2.80

Nurdin, Putri Handayani. (2019). Politik Hukum Pengaturan Pendidikan Politik oleh

Partai Politik. Jambura Law Review, 1(2), 144–166.

https://doi.org/10.33756/jalrev.v1i2.1977

Rahman, Asmika, & Suharno, Suharno. (2020). Pelaksanaan Pendidikan Politik Melalui

Pembelajaran Pendidikan Pancasila dan Kewarganegaraan untuk Meningkatkan

Kesadaran Politik Siswa. Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Pancasila Dan

Kewarganegaraan, 4(2), 282–290. https://doi.org/10.17977/um019v4i2p282-290

Sahati, Kevin Juan, Lapian, Marlien T., & Lengkong, Johny P. (2022). Perbandingan

Strategi Kampanye Partai PDI-P dan Partai Golkar dalam Pemilihan Umum

Legislatif 2019. POLITICO: Jurnal Ilmu Politik, 11(3), 19–36.

Sanusi, Aris Riswandi. (2016). Peranan Organisasi Kemahasiswaan Ekstrauniversiter

Sebagai Sarana Pendidikan Politik Mahasiswa Dalam Menumbuhkan Dan

Meningkatkan Partisipasi Politik Warga Negara Indonesia (Studi Deskriptif

Terhadap Organisasi Hmi, Kammi, dan GMNI Komisariat Universitas . CIVICS:

Jurnal Pendidikan Pancasila Dan Kewarganegaraan, 1(1).

https://doi.org/10.36805/civics.v1i1.24

Saputro, Roman Hadi. (2021). Pendidikan Politik Sebagai Amanat Undang-Undang.

Journal Civics and Social Studies, 5(1), 147–157.

https://doi.org/10.31980/civicos.v5i1.1222

Sastrawati, Nila. (2021). Peran Negara dalam Pendidikan Politik Perspektif Gender.

Jurnal Sipakalebbi, 5(1), 90–107.

Review Of Political Representation Through Representative-Constituent Relations: Case Study

Of Members Of The Dpr-Ri 2014-2019 West Java Electoral District Ix Pdi-Struggle Faction

Maruarar Sirait

Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 4, No. 8, August 2023 1151

Sukmawati, Adina, & Rafni, Al. (2020). Peran Organisasi Kepemudaan Ikatan

Mahasiswa Muhammadiyah dalam Melaksanakan Pendidikan Politik Bagi Pemuda

di Kota Padang. Journal of Civic Education, 3(2), 191–199.

https://doi.org/10.24036/jce.v3i2.349

Sutrisman, Dudih. (2019). Pendidikan Politik, Persepsi, Kepemimpinan, dan

Mahasiswa. Guepedia.

Wardhani, Primandha Sukma Nur. (2018). Partisipasi politik pemilih pemula dalam

pemilihan umum. Jupiis: Jurnal Pendidikan Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial, 10(1), 57–62.

https://doi.org/10.24114/jupiis.v10i1.8407.g9060