Submissions

Author Guidelines

Title

• The manuscript title must consist of exactly 12 words, no more and no less.
• The title must be provided in both US English and Indonesian.
• The title must use the "Capitalize Each Word" format.

Abstract & Keywords

• The abstract must be exactly 150 words, no more and no less.
• It must be provided in both academic US English and Indonesian, and the content between the two languages must be perfectly synchronized.
• The abstract must be written as a single, dense, and cohesive paragraph.
• Authors are strictly prohibited from including citations (references) or local abbreviations that are not universally explained.
• Instead of writing a long-winded macro background, the abstract must dive straight into the core problem—such as democratic backsliding, crises of representation, inefficient political party institutional design, or blind spots in previous literature—within the first one or two sentences.
• After clearly defining the problem, authors must state the research objectives and briefly outline the methodology used, such as a comparative case study, historical institutional analysis, a behavioral approach, or electoral quantitative methods.
• Approximately 40% to 50% of the abstract must be dedicated to outlining the key findings and the thesis statement.
• The abstract must not contain descriptive "empty promises" (e.g., "This article will discuss...").
• It must provide explicit statements regarding the results of the critical analysis and the theoretical or political claims being defended.
• Grammatically, past tense must be used to describe the methodological procedures conducted, while present tense must be used to emphasize the context of the issue and the analytical arguments.
• The abstract must conclude by elevating the findings, emphasizing the research's novelty and its prescriptive impacts (theoretical or practical implications) for the development of democratic consolidation or state institutional governance internationally.
• Authors must include 3 to 5 keywords that are highly specific, academically functional, and SEO-friendly (e.g., naming specific theories, specific concepts, or party system frameworks).
• Authors are strictly prohibited from using overly general words as keywords, such as "Democracy," "State," or "Politics".

General Formatting & Citations

• Citations must utilize the Chicago Full Note format.
• Footnotes must be placed immediately after the punctuation mark (period).
• When citing books, page numbers are mandatory.
• When citing journal articles, an active DOI must be included.
• Titles must follow the "Capitalize Each Word" format, where the first letter of each word is capitalized and the rest remain lowercase.

Manuscript Structure

Introduction

• Background: The background must be comprehensive, logical, and structured using a deductive or "funneling" approach, guiding the reader from macro to micro issues without using sub-chapters.
• This section should ideally comprise 15-20% of the total manuscript length.
• The author must avoid cliché opening statements and immediately tackle the real problem context, such as democratic regression (democratic backsliding), clashes between formal institutions and political behaviors, electoral dysfunction, blocked public participation, or controversial policy dynamics.
• Authors must present a thematic synthesis of the state of the art by dialoguing 5 to 10 relevant primary journal literatures published within the last 5 years.
• Authors must act as a "moderator," grouping previous scholars' perspectives, contrasting their political theories, mapping academic debates, and identifying research gaps or blind spots (theoretical gaps, empirical paradoxes, or methodological limitations).
• Based on these gaps, the manuscript must explicitly state the research's novelty, proving it actively contributes new thought to political science rather than merely replicating existing studies.
• The closing paragraph of the background must contain a clear thesis statement, initial hypothesis, or theoretical position, avoiding purely normative goals.
• This section must end with a concise explanation of the theoretical implications, final findings, or policy recommendations offered to strengthen democratic quality.
• Problem Statement: Must be formulated as research questions or a narrative paragraph that dictates the flow of the subsequent discussion.
• Research Methods: Must analytically and operationally detail the research design, providing scientific justification for why the chosen method is relevant.
• Methodology must include:
• Design and Approach: Explicitly state the approach (e.g., qualitative descriptive, quantitative explanatory, mixed-methods, comparative political systems) aligned with political science analytical tools.
• Data Sources and Unit of Analysis: Detail primary data (e.g., key informants, political elites, election organizers) and secondary data (e.g., election results, democracy indices, parliamentary minutes).
• Data Collection Techniques: Explain how data was accurately gathered (e.g., in-depth interviews, cross-stakeholder FGDs, public opinion surveys, participatory observation).
• Data and Political Phenomenon Analysis Techniques: Outline the analytical framework (e.g., thematic analysis, stakeholder analysis, critical discourse analysis, historical institutionalism) used to bridge field findings with democratic theory.

Discussion

• This section must not be purely descriptive; authors cannot merely report surface-level political phenomena, quote electoral regulations, or copy raw voting statistics.
• Authors must present sharp, critical analysis that interprets empirical data to unravel root causes (e.g., why democratic regression or institutional dysfunction occurs) and explains the mechanisms of political constellations (how power and actors influence one another).
• The presentation must systematically align with the sequence of the problem statements.
• Theories (such as democratization, political economy, or voter behavior) must be actively utilized as analytical tools to dissect political realities and build strong theoretical arguments, not merely cited as formalities.
• The discussion must include a strong academic dialogue, explicitly confronting, comparing, or situating the author's novel findings against the literature previously reviewed in the introduction.
• Authors are required to elevate specific local or national contexts into a broader global discourse, drawing connections with universal democratic principles or making proportional comparisons with other countries.
• The findings and discussion may be supported by relevant graphs, tables, conceptual diagrams, or images.

Conclusion

• The conclusion must contain answers that directly address the research problem statement.
• It must be written as a single narrative paragraph.
• The use of numbering or bullet points is strictly prohibited.
• The conclusion must not exceed a maximum length of 4 sentences.

Bibliography

• The bibliography must contain a minimum of 15 references.
• All cited journal articles must include an active DOI.
• The formatting must strictly follow the Chicago Full Note style.
• All titles must utilize the "Capitalize Each Word" format.