Focus and Scope

Indonesian Discourse on Communication, Democracy, and Political Movements is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to advancing theoretical, empirical, and critical scholarship on the relationships among communication, democracy, political movements, and social transformation, with particular attention to Indonesia and its wider regional and global contexts.

The journal examines how communication processes, political institutions, media systems, digital technologies, civic actors, and collective movements interact in shaping democratic life and political change. It welcomes theoretically informed and methodologically rigorous research that contributes to the understanding of contemporary political and communicative phenomena, particularly where such research offers broader conceptual, comparative, or theoretical relevance beyond the Indonesian context.

The journal encourages contributions from scholars working across communication studies, political science, sociology, media and cultural studies, law, public policy, international relations, human rights, and related social sciences and humanities. Interdisciplinary and comparative approaches are particularly encouraged when they generate substantive theoretical or empirical contributions to the study of communication, democracy, and political movements.

Core Areas of Focus

The journal welcomes original research, theoretical articles, conceptual analyses, comparative studies, systematic literature reviews, and critical scholarship addressing, but not limited to, the following areas:

  • Political Communication and Public Discourse

    • Political communication, rhetoric, framing, and political narratives
    • Public discourse and deliberative democracy
    • Political campaigns and electoral communication
    • Political branding, leadership communication, and political identity
    • Public opinion, persuasion, and political attitudes
    • Government communication and strategic communication
    • Communication, legitimacy, and political trust

  • Media, Journalism, and Democracy

    • Media systems and democratic development
    • Journalism, political reporting, and public accountability
    • Media ownership, regulation, and political influence
    • Media freedom, independence, and journalistic autonomy
    • Disinformation, misinformation, propaganda, and political manipulation
    • News consumption and political participation
    • Media representation, marginalization, and political inclusion

  • Digital Communication and Networked Politics

    • Social media and political communication
    • Digital activism and online political participation
    • Networked movements and digitally mediated collective action
    • Platform governance and political communication
    • Algorithmic influence and political visibility
    • Artificial intelligence and political communication
    • Digital disinformation, computational propaganda, and information disorder
    • Political polarization and online communities

  • Democracy, Governance, and Political Participation

    • Democratic institutions and political accountability
    • Democratic resilience and democratic backsliding
    • Civic engagement and political participation
    • Electoral politics and democratic processes
    • Citizenship and political inclusion
    • Civil society and democratic governance
    • Transparency, accountability, and public institutions
    • Participatory and deliberative forms of governance

  • Political Movements and Collective Action

    • Social movements and political mobilization
    • Protest movements and contentious politics
    • Grassroots political organization
    • Student and youth political movements
    • Labor, environmental, feminist, and identity-based movements
    • Movement communication and mobilization strategies
    • Political networks and collective identity
    • Repression, resistance, and political opportunity structures

  • Communication, Human Rights, and Social Justice

    • Freedom of expression and freedom of information
    • Communication rights and digital rights
    • Human rights discourse and advocacy
    • Media, representation, and social justice
    • Political exclusion and marginalized communities
    • Communication and access to justice
    • Human rights movements and advocacy communication
    • Communication in contexts of political and social conflict

  • Law, Policy, and Political Communication

    • Regulation of political communication and media
    • Election law and political communication
    • Digital governance and platform regulation
    • Public policy communication
    • Freedom of speech and legal institutions
    • Constitutional dimensions of democratic communication
    • Law, technology, and democratic governance
    • Policy responses to disinformation and emerging communication technologies

  • Political Communication in Indonesia and Southeast Asia

    • Indonesian political communication and democratic development
    • Political movements in Indonesia
    • Media and democratic transformation in Southeast Asia
    • Comparative politics and communication in ASEAN
    • Post-authoritarian political transformation
    • Local politics, decentralization, and political communication
    • Political participation and civic engagement in emerging democracies
    • Comparative studies of democracy, media, and political movements

Theoretical and Methodological Orientation

The journal welcomes scholarship employing diverse theoretical and methodological approaches, including qualitative, quantitative, mixed-methods, comparative, historical, interpretive, critical, and computational approaches. Contributions may draw upon established and emerging theoretical perspectives in political communication, democratic theory, social movement theory, media studies, political sociology, discourse analysis, network analysis, and related fields.

The journal particularly values research that demonstrates clear theoretical positioning, methodological rigor, empirical originality, and substantive contribution to existing scholarship. Studies should move beyond descriptive accounts by engaging critically with relevant literature and offering findings or arguments that advance theoretical understanding, empirical knowledge, methodological development, or policy-oriented debate.

Geographical and Comparative Scope

While the journal places particular emphasis on Indonesia, it is not restricted to Indonesian cases. Research examining Southeast Asia, the Global South, comparative political systems, transnational movements, and global communication phenomena is welcomed where the study demonstrates clear relevance to the journal's central themes.

Comparative and cross-national research is especially encouraged when it contributes to broader theoretical debates concerning democracy, communication, political participation, political movements, and social change.

Types of Contributions

The journal considers the following types of scholarly contributions:

  • Original research articles
  • Theoretical and conceptual articles
  • Comparative studies
  • Systematic or critical literature reviews
  • Methodological articles
  • Policy-oriented research articles
  • Scholarly review essays

All submissions must demonstrate originality, academic rigor, ethical research practices, and a clear contribution to the relevant international scholarly literature.

Out of Scope

The journal generally does not consider manuscripts that are primarily descriptive, lack a substantive connection to communication, democracy, or political movements, or do not demonstrate a meaningful contribution to scholarly debates. Manuscripts focused exclusively on technical communication, general media production, commercial marketing, or purely administrative and institutional matters without broader theoretical or empirical relevance are normally outside the journal's scope.

The journal also does not accept manuscripts whose primary purpose is political advocacy without a rigorous scholarly foundation. All submissions are evaluated on the basis of their academic quality, originality, theoretical contribution, methodological rigor, ethical standards, and relevance to the journal's scope, irrespective of the political position or perspective represented in the research.