Dilemmas of populist transactionalism

"Why is Indonesia by late 2016 suddenly so far from Jokowi's Solo model of negotiating social contracts, which even produced a president in favour of change? And why are we now so far from the broad alliances of unions, CSOs and progressive politicians that produced a universal social insurance system? Why have the dynamics of Jakarta rather become more reminiscent of Donald Trump and European right-wing populist politicians' ability to gain substantial support from not just extremists and racists but also the neglected working class? And what are the prospects, then, if any, for popular politics? The answers in this timely essay are based on close analyses of the attempts at new popular politics since 2005. The transactional character of not only elitist but also populist politics that have put recent advances at risk must be transformed by way of policy proposals that foster broader alliances and by initiating institutionalised forms of representation of citizen participation as well as progressive interest and issue organisations"--Page 4 of cover.