POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION: A STUDY OF JOKOWIS INDONESIA

AbstractJoko Widodo (nicknamed Jokowi) is Indonesias 7th President, elected amid strong popular hope for a new, clean, and effective government. With the support from Indonesias Democratic Party for Struggle (PDIP), Jokowi won popular support (53%) against Prabowo (47%) in the 2014 election. This paper analyzes the effectiveness of Jokowis political communication from the general election up to his presidency (2014-2015). Furthermore, the paper discusses Jokowis international image through verbal and non-verbal communication. Prabowo, his rival during the election, depicted Jokowi as an Enemy of Islam, a supporter of Christianity, an anti-Muslim, a Zionist, and a mere puppet of the West, in addition to drawing attention to his Chinese descent. Jokowis main supporters were volunteers, or the peoples coalition as the media called them. Jokowis victory was due to the strong support of volunteers who had made effective use of social media (Facebook, Twitter, SMS, and online games). Jokowis most significant volunteers were performers and musicians who successfully organized spectacular music concerts for free. These concerts enabled the increase of popular support significantly. After Jokowi became President, peoples expectations were very high. Their expectations were tempered by previous experiences when Indonesia was challenged by corruption perpetrated at various levels of government as well as business interests. This research aims to analyze Jokowis political communication performance and international image using the Strength, Weakness, Threat and Opportunity (SWOT) analysis. It concludes that Jokowis failures were due to poor political communication management. However, his changes in political strategies and management of coalition parties have successfully gained both media and popular support