ABSTRACT

This book explores the liberal nature of contemporary Indonesian constitutionalism by considering how the legal and political order post-Soeharto refl ects elements of a comprehensive political theory, and to what extent. The form of liberalism chosen for this study was John Rawls’ political liberalism, which some scholars have sought to apply to Indonesia and to Islam. Rawls’ thinking about the ideal form of a constitutional democracy takes particular account of the interplay of competing comprehensive world views and was inspired by the experience of Western nations with religious confl ict during previous centuries. I chose a case study of a prosecution under Indonesia’s ‘blasphemy’ Law to consider the relevance of a political theory designed to provide a framework for managing value pluralism, and the respect for religious freedom as a fundamental constitutional right.