ABSTRACT
When the late Daniel Lev lamented the lack of research on political parties back in 1967, Indonesia was still a young republic with a short, yet already turbulent post-colonial history. In the 22 years since the declaration of independence the country had experienced a revolutionary war (1945-9), a brief spell of parliamentary democracy (1950-9) and an even shorter period of so-called ‘Guided Democracy’ (1959-65). By the time Lev’s article went to print, Indonesia’s second president Suharto was just about to establish what would later become known as the New Order (Orde Baru).
