ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the electoral pattern in Jombang, focusing specifically on Islamic political behaviour. It discusses the factors that influenced the political allegiance and electoral behaviour of devout Muslims, and analyses the dynamics of local politics, especially in the 1987, 1997 and 1999 elections. One of the main themes is an analysis of political polarization among supporters of Islamic parties in Jombang, and the continuation of Islamic politics from the New Order to the democratizing regime. During the New Order government, the aliran system did not work well because of the changes in political constellations. The chapter explores how this actually played out during elections in Jombang. Various factors entered into the political equation, such as intimidation, state patronage and privileged access to government power and funds, cleverly engineered by the New Order government. In 1999, Muslim support again returned to Islamic parties, but now became more differentiated.
