SHADOW ELECTORAL INFRASTRUCTURE: THE EXISTENCE AND INFLUENCE OF BOTOH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36526/sosioedukasi.v15i2.8486Keywords:
Botoh, Clientelism, Indonesian Elections, Informal Institutions, Shadow Electoral InfrastructureAbstract
Indonesian elections are formally democratic yet empirically shaped by informal practices. Among the most persistent undertheorized actors is the botoh. Existing literature treats botoh as transactional vote buyers within clientelism frameworks. This article argues that botoh constitute a shadow electoral infrastructure a durable, patterned informal institutional arrangement that systematically organizes electoral competition. Employing a qualitative synthesis of empirical case studies from multiple Indonesian local elections (Tulungagung, Lamongan, Blitar, Kudus, Banjarnegara, Pamekasan, Rembang, and Central Kalimantan), the analysis reveals that botoh perform three core functions mass mobilization, vote-buying coordination, and propaganda activism through hierarchical, socially embedded networks spanning the entire electoral cycle. Three systemic patterns emerge: standardization of practices across regions, recurrence across election cycles, and candidate dependence on botoh as essential infrastructure. Drawing on informal institutions theory, brokerage, and embeddedness, the concept of shadow electoral infrastructure shifts analysis from actor-level explanations of vote buying to system-level understanding of how elections are organized under weak formal institutionalization. Botoh are not pathologies of democracy but constitutive features of how Indonesian elections actually work.
References
Abiyyu, M. D. (2020). Role of the Botoh as Political Brokers and Gamblers during the Tulungagung Local Election of 2018. Jurnal Politik, 6(1), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.7454/jp.v6i1.284
Akbar, F. I., & Aribowo, A. (2022). Peran Botoh dalam Pemilihan Kepala Desa: Studi Konflik Politik Kepala Desa Sotabar, Kecamatan Pasean, Kabupaten Pamekasan. Indonesian Journal of Politics, 18(1), 18-29. https://doi.org/10.20473/jpi.v8i1.33383
Aspinall, E. (2014). When Brokers Betray: Clientelism, Social Networks, and Electoral Politics in Indonesia. Critical Asian Studies, 46(4), 545-570. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2014.960706
Aspinall, E., & Berenschot, W. (2019). Democracy for Sale: Elections, Clientelism, and the State in Indonesia. New York. Cornell University Press.
Aspinall, E., & Sukmajati, M. (Eds.). (2016). Money politics, Petty Capitalism, and the 2014 Legislative Elections in Indonesia. Yogyakarta. Research Centre for Politics and Government.
Aspinall, E., & van Klinken, G. (Eds.). (2011). The State and Illegality in Indonesia. Leiden. KITLV Press.
Bowker, G. C., Baker, K., Millerand, F., & Ribes, D. (2010). Toward Information Infrastructure Studies: Ways of Knowing in a Networked Environment. In J. Hunsinger, L. Klastrup, & M. Allen (Eds.), International handbook of internet research (pp. 97-117). New York. Springer.
Buehler, M. (2016). The Politics of Shari'a Law: Islamist Activists and the State in Democratizing Indonesia. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Choi, N. (2009). Democracy and Patrimonial Politics in Local Indonesia. Indonesia Cornell University Press, 88, 131-164. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40376488
Flick, U. (2018). An Introduction to Qualitative Research (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California. SAGE Publications.
Flyvbjerg, B. (2006). Five Misunderstandings About Case-Study Research. Qualitative Inquiry, 12(2), 219-245. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800405284363
Novitasari, I., & Mali Tue Gian, F X. (2024). Peran Botoh Dalam Mempengaruhi Perilaku Pemilih Pada Pemilihan Kepala Desa di Desa Wates Kabupaten Kediri Tahun 2019. Governance: Jurnal Ilmu Pemerintahan, 11(1), 242-254. https://doi.org/10.56015/gjikplp.v11i1.293
Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481-510. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2780199
Hadiz, V. R. (2010). Localising Power in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia: A Southeast Asia Perspective. Redwood City, CA. Stanford University Press.
Haridison, H. (2025). “Bakas Lewu”: Political Broker in the Manduing Taheta Village Election, Central Kalimantan. Jurnal Ilmu Sosial, 23(2), 26-44. https://doi.org/10.14710/jis.23.2.2024.26-44
Hartati, A., Nafisa, A.Y., & Hidayanti, T. (2019). Botoh dalam Pilkada: Studi Pola Kerja dan Transformasi Botoh dalam Pilkada Kudus 2018. Jurnal PolGov, 1(1), 121-130. https://doi.org/10.22146/polgov.v1i1.48301
Helmke, G., & Levitsky, S. (2004). Informal Institutions and Comparative Politics: A Research Agenda. Perspectives on Politics, 2(4), 725-740. doi:10.1017/S1537592704040472
Helmke, G., & Levitsky, S. (Eds.). (2006). Informal Institutions and Democracy: Lessons from Latin America. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Hicken, A. (2011). Clientelism. Annual Review of Political Science, 14, 289-310. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.polisci.031908.220508
Kitschelt, H., & Wilkinson, S. I. (Eds.). (2009). Patrons, Clients, and Policies: Patterns of Democratic Accountability and Political Competition. Cambridge University Press.
Krippner, G. R. (2001). The Elusive Market: Embeddedness and the Paradigm of Economic Sociology. Theory and Society, 30(6), 775-810. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1013330324198
Lauth, H. J. (2000). Informal Institutions and Democracy. Democratization, 7(4), 21-50. https://doi.org/10.1080/13510340008403683
Mietzner, M. (2013). Money, Power, and Ideology: Political Parties in Post-Authoritarian Indonesia. NUS Press.
Muhtadi, B. (2019). Vote Buying in Indonesia: The Mechanics of Electoral Bribery. Palgrave Macmillan.
Nichter, S. (2008). Vote Buying or Turnout Buying? Machine Politics and the Secret Ballot. American Political Science Review, 102(1), 19-31. doi:10.1017/S0003055408080106
Pioh, R., Palenewen, J. D., & Bataha, Katerina. (2024). Political Brokers in Head of Village Elections (A Case Study in Sangal Village and Rantau Bangkiang Village, Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia). Journal of Governance and Public Policy, 11(2), 211-221.
Nafisah, R. (2023). The Brondot Strategy: Achieving Victory Without Vote Buying in Indonesia’s Local Democracy. JRP (Jurnal Review Politik), 13(2), 173-201. https://doi.org/10.15642/jrp.2023.13.2.179-201
Schulte Nordholt, H. (2008). Identity Politics, Citizenship and The Soft State In Indonesia: An Essay. Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities, 1, 1-21. DOI: 10.14203/jissh.v1i1.1
Sidel, J. T. (2008). Riots, Pogroms, Jihad: Religious Violence in Indonesia. NUS Press.
Simandjuntak, D. (2012). Gifts and promises: Patronage democracy in a decentralised Indonesia. European Journal of East Asian Studies, 11(1), 99-126. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700615-20120008
Star, S. L., & Ruhleder, K. (1996). Steps Toward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces. Information Systems Research, 7(1), 111-134. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.7.1.111
Stokes, S. C. (2005). Perverse Accountability: A Formal Model of Machine Politics with Evidence from Argentina. American Political Science Review, 99(3), 315-325. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055405051683
Stokes, S. C., Dunning, T., Nazareno, M., & Brusco, V. (2013). Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics. Cambridge University Press.
Susilowati, D., & Fitrianto, H. (2022). Botoh and Vote Buying in the 2020 Lamongan Regency Election. Indonesian Journal of Politics, 10(1), 85-101. doi: 10.20473/jpi.v10i1.58878
Tomsa, D. (2010). Party Politics and Democratization in Indonesia Golkar in The Post-Suharto Era. Oxfordshire. Routledge.
van Klinken, G. (2007). Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia: Small Town Wars. Oxfordshire. Routledge.
Warburton, E. (2016). Jokowi and the New Developmentalism. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, 52(3), 297-320. https://doi.org/10.1080/00074918.2016.1249262
Widyarini, D. A. (2022). Brokerage Dalam Politik Lokal: Karakteristik Patron-Klien Wilayah Abangan Pada Pilkada Kabupaten Blitar Tahun 2020. Jurnal Mengkaji Indonesia, 1(2), 109-134. https://doi.org/10.59066/jmi.v1i2.133.
Widyanti, A. T., & Fudin, M. (2022). Pemenangan Elektoral berbasis Karakter Lokal: Strategi Botoh dalam Pemilihan Kepala Desa di Kabupaten Banjarnegara. Salus Cultura, 2(1), 36-47. https://doi.org/10.55480/saluscultura.v2i1.43
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods (6th Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA. SAGE Publications.
Zarazaga, R. (2014). Brokers Beyond Clientelism: A New Perspective Through the Argentine Case. Latin American Politics and Society, 56(3), 23-45. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43284912
.png)
