Mobilizing the Minority: Church Networks and Political Participation in Muslim-Majority

Wahid Abdulrahman, Pamela Setya Miliasari, Muhammad Yanwar Darmadi Putra, Dendy Lisna Wansyah

Abstract


Electoral mobilization in Indonesia is frequently influenced by informal religious networks alongside formal political parties. This article examines the capacity of a minority church network to function as a non-party actor during the 2024 Semarang mayoral election. Utilizing a qualitative single instrumental case study design and reflexive thematic analysis, this research analyzes data gathered from in-depth interviews with five key organizational leaders at Grace Community Church, triangulated with internal documents and official electoral records. The findings demonstrate that the church network strategically operationalized centrality, community, and connectivity. By integrating mechanisms of civic mobilization, the study reveals how pastoral leadership skills, homophilous social networks, and external institutional linkages fostered high political awareness. This value-driven mobilization contributed to a fourteen-year peak voter turnout of 71.25% within the municipality. The empirical evidence highlights a distinct phenomenon of political volunteerism that actively resists entrenched clientelism and money politics. The research concludes that informal faith-based associations can operate effectively as autonomous moral networks. These insights provide contextualized analytical propositions on how minority religious social capital strengthens citizen participation and local democratic quality in developing polities without relying on transactional incentives.

Keywords


church networks; Indonesian election; political participation; religious factors; minority mobilization.

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References


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DOI: https://doi.org/10.33373/jtp.v10i2.9584

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