Discursive Political Environment in Indonesian Political Parties: A Study on Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB)

Abstract

This article examines the Partai Kebangkitan Bangsa (PKB) in terms of discussing environmental issues and their manifestations. In 2005, the party declared itself as the Green Party. Therefore, we examine the existence of environmental issues in the party’s vision and mission and the discourse presented by the party elite as well as how the manifestations in the realm of practical politics can be cross-checked on policies or legislation initiated and / or approved by the party elite. In investigating this problem, we use the Political Party Institutionalization theory formulated by Randall and Svasand and operationalize it in the perspective of environmental politics. The methodology used by the author’s team is descriptive qualitative. This type of method helps in analyzing descriptive data on the subject matter in this study. As a result, this paper reveals that PKB’s discourse and behavior tends to be half-hearted in institutionalizing it as a green party.