Political Communication Brokerage and Election Law Compliance: The Role of Socio-Religious Values and Environmental Ethics in Tambak Lorok
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15294/ciils.v5i1.34463Keywords:
political brokers, political communication, compliance with election laws, coastal community, interfaith lawAbstract
This study aims to examine the role of political brokers in communication practices in the Tambak Lorok fishing community in Semarang City, Central Java, focusing on compliance with election laws and the politicization of environmental issues. The community experiences multiple vulnerabilities, ranging from socio-ecological crises affecting socio-economic life to political mobilization practices that turn voting into an electoral commodity. Data were collected using a case study approach, specifically through in-depth interviews with 10 informants, including five brokers and five community members, as well as an analysis of secondary document sources. The results showed that three types of brokers, namely activists, clientelists, and opportunists, operated simultaneously, exploiting environmental issues, including tidal flooding, diesel fuel shortages, and coastal waste as political narratives. These narratives were used to build candidate legitimacy and mobilize votes based on promises of ecological solutions, often combined with the practice of money politics. Political brokers were not only agents of patronage but also communication actors who framed local issues in electoral political discourse. In practice, political brokers occupied a biased position by engaging in legitimate political communication and violating Law Number 7 of 2017. A central finding of this study is the systematic weaponization of Islamic jurisprudential concepts—specifically the intentional conflation of risywah (bribery) with shadaqah (alms) and hadiah (gifts)—within communal pengajian spaces to neutralize legal resistance to vote-buying. It constitutes a paradigmatic case of interfaith legal tension, where Islamic normative frameworks are inverted to subvert state electoral law. In conclusion, this study contributes to strengthening the understanding of informal actors, electoral law, and the quality of democracy, specifically at the local level, while expanding the discourse on how environmental issues are politicized in the context of urban coastal communities in developing countries.
References
Aian G. Villanueva, Prince, and Jessa Nicole P. Salazar. “Patronage Politics and Clientelism in Housing Welfare: The Case of Gawad Kalinga (GK) Villages in Parañaque City, The Philippines.” Journal of Government and Politics 6, no. 2 (2015): 170–85. https://doi.org/10.18196/jgp.2015.0013.
Al-Jufri, A. Ikram Fadhil Mubarak, Erman I. Rahim, and Fitran Amrain. “Efektivitas Penegakan Hukum Pidana Pemilu Legislatif 2024 di Gorontalo.” Jurisprudentie: Jurusan Ilmu Hukum Fakultas Syariah dan Hukum 13, no. 1 (2026): 28–41. https://doi.org/10.24252/jurisprudentie.v13i1.67739.
Archer, David W., Julie Dawson, Urs P. Kreuter, Mary Hendrickson, and John M. Halloran. “Social and Political Influences on Agricultural Systems.” Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems 23, no. 4 (2008): 272–84. https://doi.org/10.1017/S174217050700169X.
Aritama, Randi. “Tanggung Jawab Hukum KPU Dalam Pelanggaran Pemilu: Studi Berdasarkan UU No. 7 Tahun 2017.” Jurnal Thengkyang 8, no. 1 (2023): 48–55.
Asliani. “Acts of Bribery in Corruption Cases Maqoshid Syariah Perspective.” Proceeding International Seminar of Islamic Studies, March 30, 2026, 1093–99. https://doi.org/10.3059/insis.v0i0.29415.
Aspinall, Edward. “When Brokers Betray: Clientelism, Social Networks, and Electoral Politics in Indonesia.” Critical Asian Studies 46, no. 4 (2014): 545–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/14672715.2014.960706.
Aspinall, Edward, and Muhammad Uhaib As’Ad. “The Patronage Patchwork: Village Brokerage Networks and the Power of the State in an Indonesian Election.” Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 171, nos. 2–3 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1163/22134379-17102004.
Aspinall, Edward, and Ward Berenschot. Democracy for Sale: Pemilihan Umum, Klientelisme, dan Negara di Indonesia. Jakarta: Yayasan Pustaka Obor Indonesia, 2019.
Aspinall, Edward, Noor Rohman, Ahmad Zainul Hamdi, Rubaidi, and Zusiana Elly Triantini. “Vote Buying in Indonesia: Candidate Strategies, Market Logic and Effectiveness.” Journal of East Asian Studies 17, no. 1 (2017): 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1017/jea.2016.31.
Auyero, Javier, and Débora Alejandra Swistun. Flammable: Environmental Suffering in an Argentine Shantytown. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195372946.001.0001.
Azam, Muhammad, Abdullah Abdul-Majeed Hamdoun, Eid Abed Alhaleem Maslat Harahsheh, Anis Mashdurohatun, and Hamonangan Parsaulian Sidauruk. “Religious Diversity in the Digital Economy: Interfaith Legal Pathways to Harmonize Sharia, Christian Ethics, and International Law.” Contemporary Issues on Interfaith Law and Society 4, no. 2 (2025): 207–264. https://doi.org/10.15294/ciils.v4i2.33011.
Azzahra, Nabila, Mohammad Ali Andrias, Faisal Fadilla Noorikhsan, Komang Jaka Ferdian, and La Ode Muhamad Muliawan. “Klientelisme Dalam Pemilihan Kepala Desa di Desa Purwadadi Kabupaten Ciamis.” Journal of Political Issues 7, no. 1 (2025): 71–86. https://doi.org/10.33019/jpi.v7i1.321.
Bahamonde, Hector, and Andrea Canales. “Electoral Risk and Vote Buying, Introducing Prospect Theory to the Experimental Study of Clientelism.” Electoral Studies 80 (2022): 102497. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2022.102497.
Berenschot, Ward. “The Political Economy of Clientelism: A Comparative Study of Indonesia’s Patronage Democracy.” Comparative Political Studies 51, no. 12 (2018): 1563–93. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414018758756.
Christopoulosa, Dimitrios, and Karin Ingoldb. “Distinguishing between Political Brokerage & Political Entrepreneurship.” Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences 10 (2011): 36–42.
Empowerment, Initiative for Democracy & Civic. Buying a Ballot: Vote Brokers in Southeast Asia.
Fakihudin, Rifki. “Formulation of Public Policy Based on Islamic Legal Studies as a Solution in the Contemporary Era.” Contemporary Issues on Interfaith Law and Society 2, no. 2 (2023): 145–66. https://doi.org/10.15294/CIILS.V2I2.68868.
Falah, Zidnal. “Peran Komunikasi Politik Dalam Membentuk Citra Kandidat Pemilu.” Journal Syntax Idea 5 (2024): 4–6.
Hicken, Allen, Edward Aspinall, Meredith L. Weiss, and Burhanuddin Muhtadi. “Buying Brokers: Electoral Handouts beyond Clientelism in a Weak-Party State.” World Politics 74, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887121000216.
Indraswara, Dede. “Rekonstruksi Metodologis Hukum: Diversifikasi dan Integrasi Penelitian Hukum Normatif (Doktrinal), Empiris (Non-Doktrinal), dan Studi Sosio-LLegal.” IPMHI Law Journal 5, no. 2 (2025): 205–246. https://doi.org/10.15294/ipmhi.v5i2.41599.
Iskandar, and Kamrin. “Posisi Broker Dalam Ikatan Patronase Sebagai Wujud Kelas Menengah Komunitas Petani di Pedesaan Sulawesi Selatan.” Jurnal Sosiologi Kontemporer 2, no. 2 (2022): 70–77. https://doi.org/10.56326/jsk.v2i2.2161.
Ismaidar, Tamaulina Br. Sembiring, and Yulia Christy Shintara Aruan. “Analysis of Legal Political Dynamics in the Regulation of Simultaneous Regional Elections in Indonesia: Between Effectiveness and Local Democracy.” International Journal of Law and Society 2, no. 1 (2024): 64–82. https://doi.org/10.62951/ijls.v2i1.288.
Jong, Sara de, Ward Berenschot, David Ehrhardt, and Oliver Walton. “Agents of Order? Brokerage and Empowerment in Development and Conflict.” Journal of International Development 35, no. 3 (2023): 385–400. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3759.
Kang, Bohyeon, and Rupinder P. Jindal. “Opportunism in Buyer-Seller Relationships: Some Unexplored Antecedents.” Journal of Business Research 68, no. 3 (2015): 735–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.07.009.
Larreguy, Horacio, John Marshall, and Pablo Querubín. “Parties, Brokers, and Voter Mobilization: How Turnout Buying Depends upon the Party’s Capacity to Monitor Brokers.” American Political Science Review 110, no. 1 (2016): 160–79.
Mihaylov, Nikolay L., and Douglas D. Perkins. “Local Environmental Grassroots Activism: Contributions from Environmental Psychology, Sociology and Politics.” Behavioral Sciences 5, no. 1 (2015). https://doi.org/10.3390/bs5010121.
Millner, Antony, and Hélène Ollivier. “Beliefs, Politics, and Environmental Policy.” Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 10, no. 2 (2016): 226–44. https://doi.org/10.1093/reep/rew010.
Mohammad Hidayaturrahman, Sudarman, Naili Adilah Hamhij, Anak Agung Putu Sugiantiningsih, Ahmad Hasan Ubaid, and Elazhari. “Political Broker Giving Money and Intimidating in Regional Head Elections in Indonesia.” Jurnal Studi Sosial dan Politik 5 (2022): 200–35.
Muhtadi, Burhanuddin. “Politik Uang dan Dinamika Elektoral di Indonesia: Sebuah Kajian Awal Interaksi Antara ‘Party-ID’ dan Patron-Klien.” Jurnal Penelitian Politik 11, no. 1 (2013): 41–57.
Neil Carter. “The Environment as a Policy Problem.” In The Politics of the Environment: Ideas, Activism, Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511819179.012.
Paul Robbins. Political Ecology: A Critical Introduction. 3rd ed. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2020.
Pethig, Florian, and Julia Kroenung. “Specialized Information Systems for the Digitally Disadvantaged.” Journal of the Association for Information Systems, ahead of print (2019). https://doi.org/10.17705/1jais.00573.
Pioh, Novie Revlie, Jovano Deivid Palenewen, and Katerina Bataha. “Political Brokers in Head of Village Elections (A Case Study in Sangal Village and Rantau Bangkiang Village, Central Kalimantan Province, Indonesia).” Journal of Governance and Public Policy 11, no. 2 (2024): 212–22. https://doi.org/10.18196/jgpp.v11i2.19783.
Rizzo, Tesalia. “Motivated Brokers.” SSRN Electronic Journal (2015): 1–39. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2619843.
Sastra, Irmayadi. “Risywah in the Perspective of Islamic and Positive Law.” Tradition and Modernity of Humanity 4, no. 3 (2024): 72–77. https://doi.org/10.32734/tmh.v4i3.17289.
Schechter, Laura. Brokering Votes with Information Spread via Social Networks (2009).
Scheidel, Arnim, Daniela Del Bene, Juan Liu, et al. “Environmental Conflicts and Defenders: A Global Overview.” Global Environmental Change 63 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102104.
Sibuea, Harris Y. P. “Effectiveness of Bawaslu’s Legal Authority on Election Crime.” (2024).
Siregar, Sarah Nuraini. “Patronage Democracy in Indonesia.” Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities 10, no. 1 (2020): 71–74. https://doi.org/10.14203/jissh.v10i1.158.
Stokes, Susan C. Brokers, Voters, and Clientelism: The Puzzle of Distributive Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107324909.
Turska-Kawa, Agnieszka, and Waldemar Wojtasik. “‘Directiveness’ as a Predictor of Religious Attitudes.” Polish Sociological Review 198, no. 2 (2017): 189–201.
Yin, Robert K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. 5th ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2009.
Yunus, Nur Rohim, Amrizal Siagian, and Fina Raihani. “Thuggery and Local Politics in Indonesia: A Legal Political Analysis of the Involvement of Individuals in Power.” International Journal of Social Science and Human Research 8, no. 6 (2025): 4637–42. https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v8i6-68.
Zakaria, Muzakkir. “Legal Aspects of Election Administration Decisions Stages of Vote Counting Recapitulation in Pidie Jaya Regency.” Al Mashaadir: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah 5 (2025). https://doi.org/10.52029/jis.v5i2.192
Downloads
Published
Article ID
34463Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Nugraheni Arumsari, Pawito, Andre Noevi Rahmanto , Didik G. Suharto, Rizqi Adri Muhammad (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
All writings published in this journal are personal views of the author and do not represent the views of this journal and the author’s affiliated institutions.
