Kesenjangan Sosial: Tantangan Bagi Demokrasi Indonesia

Indonesia has made a substantial progress in recovering its economy,especially since the crisis hit the country in 1997. Liberalization of the economy followed by sound and sustainable growth of the economy and flourish of investment has contrubuted to the recovery. Unfortunately, social inequality remains a social issue and the challenges to the economic change. Social inequality during this often conceived like an iceberg phenomenon. Social disparities indeed is an issue that is multi-dimensional. Social inequalities also must be understood from a political dimension. Lack of access in public policies come into potentially exacerbate social disparities. The widespread practices of corruption became a serious threat in overcoming social disparities. Why corruption is still a serious challenge in the midst of the political changes in Indonesia? Political change in Indonesia were increasingly characterized by the rise of oligarkhi (Robison and Hadiz, 2004). Ironically, electoral democracy hasn't been able to bring about change in curbing abuse of power. Social disparities are morally opposed to the ideals of social justice. This paper examines the issue of the social inequality for Indonesia in promoting its democracy