PANCASILA, DEMOKRASI LIBERAL DAN KOMUNITARISME

Abstract

The domcratisation process which has been pursued by the Indonesian nation
since the reformation era is now caught up in a procedural democracy without the
wellbeing of the people or social justice. Proceduralism is the most basic criticism
of liberal democracy by republicans and communitarians. From a communitarian
perspective, the Pancasila state ideology as the normative base and collective identity
of the Indonesian nation is able to offer a way out of the crisis of liberal democracy
as practised in Indonesia. This essay attempts to show that it is not an effort to
build a democratic order upon procedural ethics as is assumed by liberals, but rather
the need to provide a substantial ethical foundation. This is the case as a democratic
system is not filled with atomistic individuals but with social relationships. A
democratic process always moves within a society shaped by social relationships
and various complex processes for the formation of communities. Democracy is built
upon a collective identity which is formal yet fragile. In the Indonesian context, the
Pancasila is the collective expression the nation’s identity. As a collective identity,
the Pancasila will never be complete, but will always be in a state of becoming
rediscovering itself anew. In the final section, two methods are presented, namely the
method of deliberative and agonistic democracy as a way proposed by contemporary
political philosophy in overcoming conflicts in values in the face of pluralism. The
Pancasila will become the collective identity which animates the people of Indonesia,
only when it is open to a process of rational deliberation in the public sphere and is
ready to be only one alternative in the midst of a competitive discourse.

Kata-kata kunci: liberalisme, komunitarisme, Pancasila, identitas
kolektif, demokrasi, deliberasi, agonistik.