The Sunan Ampel Review of Political and Social Sciences

The Diplomacy of Islamic Powers in the Malacca Strait

2025-11-16T12:50:46+00:00

The Strait of Malacca has been a strategic route for the meeting of economic, cultural, ideological and political interests since thousands of years ago. One of the impacts of this strategic meeting was the emergence of Islamic powers in the form of large Islamic kingdoms in the early 9th century. The existence of the Islamic powers of the Malacca Strait was revealed through a search of both primary and secondary documents. The results of this study prove that the emergence of Islamic powers in the Malacca Strait occurred through economic and cultural diplomacy, making it easier to strengthen the influence of Islamic ideology among the people along the Malacca Strait, both in Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia. This strong and widespread influence of the Islamic religion became the basis for the establishment of large kingdoms which formed governments based on Islamic political principles. The clash of economic, cultural, ideological and political interests continued between the Islamic forces of the Malacca Strait and the Western powers as new arrivals which ended with the collapse of the Islamic forces of the Malacca Strait.

Reformulating Indonesia’s Minimum Wage Policy

2025-12-04T22:43:40+00:00

This study examines the reformulation of Indonesia’s minimum wage policy under Government Regulation (GR) No. 51 of 2023, which was introduced following Constitutional Court decisions that mandated revisions to the Job Creation Law. The policy reform aims to balance worker protection, business certainty, and economic equity within the broader framework of social welfare. Using a qualitative research approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with government officials, labor unions, employer associations, and members of the National Wage Council, complemented by document analysis of regulatory texts and consultation records. The findings reveal that the reformulation was driven by four structural issues: mistargeted application of the minimum wage, industrial burden, recurring labor conflicts, and weak implementation of wage structure and scale. The formulation process combined rational, political, and incremental decision-making models, reflecting bounded political rationality. Empirical results indicate that the policy’s implementation has led to informal compromises between employers and workers, weak enforcement mechanisms, and persistent wage inequality. Although the regulation introduces a shift toward a productivity-driven wage system, its effectiveness remains limited by institutional and administrative constraints. The study concludes that aligning policy intentions with social welfare values requires strengthening institutional enforcement, expanding the application of structured wage systems, and promoting inclusive social dialogue to ensure that the minimum wage functions effectively as both a social safety net and an economic stabilizer in Indonesia’s evolving labor market.

Normalization Without Resolution? Regional Peace Initiatives

2025-09-30T11:23:26+00:00

This study analyzes the dynamics of "normalization without resolution" as manifested in the 2020 Abraham Accords to assess the extent to which regional peace initiatives can serve as instruments of stability in the Middle East or instead deepen internal fragmentation in Palestine. Using a qualitative method based on analytical case studies and John Galtung's conflict resolution theoretical framework, this study examines the shift from the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative consensus, which emphasized the principle of land for peace, to a realpolitik paradigm driven by security calculations in the face of Iran, economic interests, and US support. The results show that the Abraham Accords have only produced a transactional cold peace at the state level, creating a negative peace in the form of the absence of direct inter-state violence, but failing to achieve a positive peace based on structural justice. This normalization has effectively marginalized the Palestinian issue, weakened its bargaining position in international diplomacy, and exacerbated the political divide between Fatah and Hamas. Furthermore, the neglect of core issues such as refugee rights shows that this initiative reproduces historical inequalities. In conclusion, normalization without resolution reflects the paradox of hybrid peace: fragile elitist stability that ignores the need for substantive reconciliation. The implications of this study confirm that sustainable peace can only be achieved through inclusive transformation that places Palestinian national unity and structural justice as key prerequisites.

Local Regulation Drafting

2025-12-10T16:51:40+00:00

The implementation of regional governance in Indonesia positions the Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD) as a key actor in the exercise of regional autonomy, particularly through its legislative function in drafting regional regulations (Perda). This study aims to analyze how the Probolinggo City DPRD carries out its legislative function and to identify various obstacles that arise throughout the regulation-drafting process. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews with DPRD members, secretariat staff, and relevant stakeholders, as well as through a review of official documents. The findings indicate that although the procedural framework for drafting regional regulations has been clearly established, its implementation still encounters several challenges. The main issues include weak coordination between the legislative and executive bodies, limited human and technical capacity in preparing academic manuscripts and draft regulations, and low levels of public participation in the legislative process. These conditions affect both the quality of the policies produced and the effectiveness of the DPRD’s representative function in addressing community needs. This study recommends strengthening coordination mechanisms between the DPRD and local government, enhancing institutional capacity and the technical competence of members and expert staff, and expanding more inclusive and sustainable public participation channels in the drafting of regional regulations.

A Study of Political Language on The Fiscal Policy Discourse of Indonesia's Minister of Finance in 2025

2025-10-28T01:28:02+00:00

Fiscal communication plays a crucial role in shaping public trust, promoting transparency, and reinforcing the legitimacy of government actions. Despite its significance, existing studies often emphasize macroeconomic performance rather than the rhetorical strategies that build credibility and empathy between policymakers and the public. This study investigates the rhetorical and linguistic strategies employed by Indonesian Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa during the crucial transitional period following his appointment in 2025, amid growing fiscal legitimacy challenges and public skepticism. The research focuses on how Minister Purbaya strategically constructed and communicated Indonesia’s fiscal narrative to regain public trust, stabilize perceptions of economic governance, and reinforce the credibility of fiscal policy after the leadership change. Using a qualitative descriptive method with a rhetorical and linguistic discourse analysis approach, the research examines selected public speeches and media statements delivered from his inauguration to October 2025. The analysis reveals that Purbaya’s fiscal communication emphasized clarity, empathy, and accountability, supported by rhetorical devices such as ethos, pathos, logos, metaphorical framing, and pronoun choice. These elements collectively simplified complex fiscal issues, humanized economic discourse, and fostered a sense of shared responsibility between the government and citizens. The findings indicate that effective fiscal communication requires not only technical expertise and data accuracy but also emotional resonance and ethical awareness. The study concludes that rhetorical competence is a vital aspect of fiscal governance, turning policy communication into a bridge of trust that strengthens both public confidence and the legitimacy of fiscal policy.

Digital Politics of Prabowo

2025-12-19T03:30:10+00:00

This study explores how President Prabowo Subianto’s official Instagram account is utilized as a strategic tool in digital politics and political communication. By applying a cyber sociopragmatic approach, which integrates sociopragmatic theory (Haugh, Kádár, & Terkouraf) with concepts of digital politics, this research investigates how language, imagery, and symbols are carefully crafted to communicate political authority, represent national identity, and engage with the public. Employing qualitative methods such as observation and document analysis, the study examines how Instagram posts contribute to shaping political narratives and diplomatic discourse, focusing on the symbolic use of protocol, international cooperation, and Indonesia’s foreign relations. The analysis, guided by the social, interactional, and normative dimensions of sociopragmatics, highlights how textual and visual elements work together to convey subtle messages of political power, shape diplomatic relations, and influence public perception. The findings indicate that Instagram is not merely a platform for information sharing, but a political space for constructing political identity, enhancing public engagement, and projecting Indonesia’s presence on the global stage. This research contributes to theoretical development by linking cyber sociopragmatics with digital politics, shedding light on how sociocultural norms and contextual reasoning inform online political communication. Practically, it offers insights into how social media can be strategically leveraged by political leaders to facilitate communication, strengthen domestic and international ties, and navigate the complex landscape of digital political discourse.

Configuring Lecturer Well-Being Policy Deliberation on YouTube

2025-11-05T14:54:53+00:00

This research aims to examine how the YouTube platform is used as a digital public space in articulating social policy discourse, especially related to the welfare of lecturers. Using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach, as many as 22 scientific articles from highly reputable journals were analyzed to identify discourse configurations, representation strategies, and affective, performative, and algorithmic dynamics that shape public opinion related to the issue. The results show that YouTube acts as an alternative deliberative arena that allows academic actors to voice criticism, strengthen the legitimacy of personal experiences, and form digital solidarity. However, not all interactions on these platforms reflect rational deliberation in the Habermasian sense; Many of them are driven by emotional logic and algorithmic selection mechanisms. These dynamics result in complex discourse configurations, where affection and performativity are important elements in building policy narratives. This research contributes to the development of social policy studies and digital public spaces by emphasizing the importance of reading the deliberation process in the context of platform mediation and digital culture. Suggestions for further research include exploration of direct netnography and comparative studies between digital platforms to understand the variations in policy discourse dynamics in more depth.