The Development of Political Public Relations in Indonesia
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POLITICAL PUBLIC RELATIONS IN INDONESIA UNDER THE YUDHOYONO PRESIDENCY: PAST DEVELOPMENTS AND NEW FORMATIONS Rendro Dhani This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Arts–Murdoch University December 2018 ii Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work that has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution. Rendro Dhani Perth, December 2018 iii Abstract This thesis is about political public relations in Indonesia. It draws on the tremendous changes after the fall of the Soeharto regime in May 1998. The transformation of the political system from authoritarianism to democratic government quickly led to the freedom of the press and freedom of expression in the country. Consequently, new governments in the post-Soeharto era sought to develop new strategies and models of communication in the new political atmosphere. This thesis is concerned with analysing the rapid growth and the exercise of political public relations under Indonesia’s sixth president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (2004–2014). It focuses on how Yudhoyono harnessed political public relations during his presidency to maximise political and popular support. A multiple approach to public relations, i.e. system, rhetorical, and critical were used in this thesis to examine the concept, development, practices, and effects of political public relations. A single case study is employed in this thesis to analyse how Yudhoyono improved the quality of political public relations and thus could safely ‘democratise’ propaganda in Indonesia. The thesis argues that the term ‘political public relations’ in the context of Yudhoyono’s presidency can be considered as ‘soft propaganda’ because the president and government apparatus basically used old and new methods of propaganda in their political communication through sophisticated and subtle ways. Yudhoyono harnessed political public relations with communication strategies and techniques that were largely propagandistic. He relied on military officers and trusted them more than professional public relations consultants in helping to manage his communication tactics and plans. Compared to his immediate predecessors, Yudhoyono applied more professional communication strategies and was particularly adept at managing his presidential persona to his advantage, and that was one of the pivotal factors leading to perpetuate his political hegemony. This thesis also found that the process of decision making become sluggish as his presidency progressed as Yudhoyono began to rely excessively on political public relations to quell public rejection of policies. iv Table of Contents Declaration ............................................................................................................................. ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ................................................................................................................. iv List of Tables and Figures ................................................................................................. vii Explanatory Notes ............................................................................................................. viii Abbreviations and Glossary .............................................................................................. ix Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ xii Preface .................................................................................................................................. xiii Chapter 1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 1 Research Background ........................................................................................................... 3 Political situation in post-Soeharto Indonesia. ........................................................................ 5 Focus of the Study ................................................................................................................ 8 Research Questions and Purpose of the Study ................................................................. 11 Thesis Structure .................................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework ........................................... 18 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 18 Key Concepts and Terminology .............................................................................................. 19 Historical Background of Public Relations and Propaganda ........................................... 23 Paradigms and Approaches in Public Relations ............................................................... 30 The dominant paradigm. .......................................................................................................... 31 Critiques of dominant paradigm. ...................................................................................................... 33 Rhetorical approach to public relations. ................................................................................ 35 Critical approaches to public relations. .................................................................................. 38 A critical view of propaganda and public relations. ...................................................................... 38 A critical view of the role and effects of public relations. .............................................................. 41 Conceptualising Political Public Relations ....................................................................... 44 Summary and Application ................................................................................................. 50 Chapter 3 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 55 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 55 Rationale, Research Questions, and Purpose .................................................................... 56 Research Design.................................................................................................................. 60 Qualitative approach. ............................................................................................................... 60 Interpretive paradigm............................................................................................................... 61 Case study. ................................................................................................................................. 63 Data Collection ................................................................................................................... 66 Interviews. .................................................................................................................................. 66 Elite interviews. ................................................................................................................................... 67 Interview participants. ........................................................................................................................ 68 Selection procedure and demography.............................................................................................. 72 Interview procedures. ......................................................................................................................... 76 Data Management and Analysis ........................................................................................ 78 v Organising data ......................................................................................................................... 78 Text analysis. .............................................................................................................................. 78 Data condensation and presentation. ..................................................................................... 79 Trustworthiness. ........................................................................................................................ 82 Ethical Considerations........................................................................................................ 84 Confidentiality. .......................................................................................................................... 84 Reflexivity ................................................................................................................................... 85 Strenghts and limitations ................................................................................................... 87 Chapter 4 A Historical Review of Political Public Relations in Indonesia .............. 90 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 90 Propaganda and Public Relations History in Indonesia .................................................. 91 The Sukarno Era (1945–1967) .............................................................................................