Long-term Economic Development in the Presence of an Episode of Mass Killing: The Case of Indonesia

This chapter sketches the buildup to the mass killing (politicide) of communists and communist sympathizers in Indonesia, during 1965 to 1966. Our key contribution is to explain why ordinary individuals, not belonging to the elite, might wish to participate in the act of murder. The mass murder aided the consolidation of the New Order autocratic regime of Suharto, but his ascension to power cannot be separated from the cold war politics of the time. Over three decades of authoritarian rule did bring about broad-based economic progress. But the authoritarian contract sustaining the regime became untenable, and the contract lacked credible commitment without a transfer of some political power to the new middle classes. This mirrors the modernization theory of endogenous democracy, which states that at a higher level of income, the pressure for democracy becomes inexorable.