Elite and Power

Elite and Power " In so far as national events are decided, the power elite are those who decide them ." (Mills 1956) The passage from C. Wright Mills above illustrates that the concept of elite has never been separated from politics. If politics is synonymous with matters of power, decision- making, public policy, and allotment, then the elite is a small group of people involved in these affairs. In the study of political science, how much influence elites have can be seen from the debate between elite theory and pluralism. Elite theory refutes the view of classical pluralism which holds that power is distributed equally. According to the scientists who came up with the classical elite theory (Pareto, Mosca, Mic-hels to Weber), power is concentrated in a few groups or individuals. In the case of Indonesia, studies of elites and control of power often discuss changes in the elite arena in the Refor- masi era. The New Order elite, who initially competed in Jakarta as the center of government, then competed at the regional level through new spaces provided by decentralization (Hadiz 2003). One illustration that can be used as an example to see the practices of power struggles between central and regional elites will be explained through Ali Muhyidin's article in this number. If you look at the common thread, the articles in this number broadly discuss issues regarding elites and power. The articles in question include talking about the process of attraction of interest in forest governance in the era of decentralization (in Ali Muhyidin's article), efforts to maintain Erdoğan's power in Turkey (in the articles of Abdul Hafizh Karim and Hamdan Basyar), the elite in the election of village heads (in the articles of Endik Hidayat, Budi Prasetyo, and Setya Yuwana), the emergence of elements of Islamic populism in political contestation in Jakarta (in the article Rangga Kusumo and Hurriyah), and the Vietnamese Communist Party's adaptation of maintaining a one-party state system (in Hilwan Givari's article). Similar to previous editions, this number consists of 5 (five) articles and 1 (one) review. The journal begins with an article written by Ali Muhyidin entitled " Guarding Central Government Control over Forest: Forest Governance in the Post-Decentralization Indonesia " which reviews how contestation of authority in terms of forest policy

management between the central government and local governments causes forest governance reform to be half-hearted. This is due to the resistance of the central government to reforms. Instead of accommodating and strengthening the government's capabilities at the local level, the central government seeks to strengthen its power. The second article is titled " The Embodiment of Competitive Authoritarianism in Turkey in the Planning and Process of the 2017 Referendum ". This article discusses the implementation of the values of competitive authoritarianism carried out by the Erdoğan regime in Turkey. This article suggests that President Erdoğanundertook efforts to weaken the opposition, namely repression of the media, violations of civil liberties, and indications of fraud in the voting process to ensure his power through a referendum. The third article was titled "The Collapse of Oligarchic Politics in the Village Head Election: The Defeat of the Incumbent in the Tanjung Kediri Regency Election" . This article discusses the phenomenon of the failure of oligarchs, who have economic power and control formal institutions, in winning the village head election in Tanjung Village, Kediri Regency. According to this article, there is another source of power that plays a role in contesting the election of village heads in the area, namely the Javanese source of power that is spiritual in nature. This is in contrast to political battles at higher levels (district, city, provincial, and national) where the role of material resources is often a significant factor in gaining electoral advantage. The fourth article entitled "Islamic Populism in Indonesia: A Case Study of Islamic Defense Action by GNPF-MUI in 2016-2017 " explains the rise of elements of Islamic populism in the midst of the 2017 DKI Jakarta regional elections through mass mobilization called "Aksi Bela Islam". According to this article, although Aksi Bela Islam has elements of populism such as multigroup alliances, it cannot be fully categorized as Islamic populism as described by political scientists. This is due to the continuity of action that only lasts for a short time. In addition, the difference in calls among action participants is also one of the obstacles in uniting the identity of participants as part of the 'people'.

The fifth article talks about the adaptive nature of the ruling party in the era of economic reform in Vietnam. Entitled "Adaptation of Patron Circulation in the Implementation of Democratic Centralism of the Communist Party of Vietnam in the Congress during the "Doi Moi" era ", this article written by Hilwan Givari explains the success of the Communist Party of Vietnam in accommodating the demands of reform and the pragmatic interests of the elites through the application of the principle of democratic centralism. According to Givari, unlike other communist countries, democratic centralism is the reason why the communist party in Vietnam was able to maintain a one-party state system for a relatively long time. The last section of this edition of the Journal of Politics is Paul McMahon's book review entitled " Scramble to Eat: The New Politics of Food ". This review was written by Fikri Disyacitta with the title " Political Food: Problems, Impacts, and Solutions ". In this review, Disyacitta reviews the political aspects of food issues from local to international levels. In addition, Disyacitta also appreciated the book written by McMahon for being able to be critical and not trapped by the old view that food inequality in the world is simply caused by behavior of developed countries. According to Disyacitta, McMahon's book is successful in providing another perspective in seeing the position and role of developing countries in responding to the problem of scarce food. However, Disyacitta also criticized McMahon's writing for not having a new perspective. In closing, the editor really hopes that the seventh issue of the Political Journal can be a stimulus in academic discussions and provide benefits for readers. Happy reading! BIBLIOGRAPHY Budiardjo, Miriam. 2012. Fundamentals of Political Science . Jakarta: Gramedia Main Library. Hadiz, Vedi R. 2003 "Power and Politics in North Sumatra: The Un-completed Reformasi" in Local Power and Politics in Indonesia: Decentralisation and Democratisation , eds. Edward Aspinall and Greg Fealy. Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 119-131.

Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite . New York: Oxford University Press.