Foreign Policy and National Elections: A brief overview of the public attitude in Indonesia towards foreign policy issue

Executive Summary

1. During elections, foreign policy is often overshadowed by other pressing domestic concerns. The prevailing consensus is that the public possesses little information and is only concerned about these issues when their daily lives are directly affected.
2. Looking at experiences in some countries, there are differences in how the public responds to international issues. A large number of studies suggest that foreign policy can be of interest of the voters during election time. At present, along with the rise of the number of internet users, the media (in particular social media), is now increasingly influencing public policy.
3. Alongside Indonesia’s democratization process, the Indonesian public has become more informed with varieties of issues that may influence their voting behavior, including international issues. International issues entered the debates and public discourse leading up to the 2014 election.
4. For international issues to be at the heart of discourse among the Indonesian voters, they must have direct links with domestic issues, in particular And even so, international issues are thus far limited to debates and public discourse but would be of little influence on the actual decision of the voters.