Islam and Covenantal Pluralism in Indonesia: A Critical Juncture Analysis

The ideal of covenantal pluralism is at once timely and challenging. It is timely because, after decades of policy briefs suggesting that free elections and civil society are sufficient to secure democracy, the struggle for pluralist co-existence around the globe remains as unfinished today as ever. The concept is challenging because it leaves unclear how its ideals are to achieve real-world realization—particularly where a portion of the population places an inclusive pluralism low on its list of public-ethical priorities. This article examines this latter tension in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority democracy. Democracy here has heightened debates over whether citizenship is to be universal or religiously differentiated.