Indonesia: Nation-building and democratic governance

The constitution of a state in democracy and development in what is Indonesia today is just one of the possible stories of History. To explain what has made it possible and what will determine Indonesia’s future and transformations, this paper offers an approach to the structuring axis of Indonesia’s national construction; it also analyses the process that led to the replacing of the political regime established by Sukarno after independence by Suharto’s “New Order”, and its consolidation and crisis, which subsequently led to political transition, then to the present democratic regime in consolidation and to the overcoming of Indonesia’s historical challenges. The paper concludes with an analysis of the current situation and the challenges Indonesia faces in the future.