ABSTRACT
A glance through the relevant literature on democratisation and state-building shows that while it is simple enough to find critiques of 'cookie cutter models' of democratisation, it is much harder to find clear, alternative approaches providing practical solutions for policy-makers accustomed to working within the epistemological confines of institutional theory. Institutional theory is very broad and used for many different purposes, and there is much internal contestation between the different strands of contemporary institutionalism, known as 'new institutionalism'. Institutional theory's claim to explaining the relationship between different sectors of a society has been extremely influential; it was the work of Douglass North and his focus on the relationship between political institutions and economic development that led to the contemporary theories of good governance that now guide international interventions. The first experience of political parties in 1975 resulted in civil war, and during Indonesian occupation the only political parties were the three mandated by the Indonesian government.
