The Republic of Indonesia operates under a system known as guided democracy. But what exactly is "guided democracy"? According to its practitioners, it is the out-growth of the best socialist theorizing by Indonesians during the colonial period, theorizing that encompassed Marxism, religious socialism, and a unique Indonesian ideology - "marhaenism”" - which, according to President Sukarno, is Marxism as practiced or applied in Indonesia. Moreover, so its supporters claim, guided democracy-a system under which neither free elections nor a free press nor political opposition are permitted-is superior to old-fashioned parliamentary democracy and better suited to the demands of Indonesian life. And since free elections are not a component of the guided democratic creed, the system has never received a popular mandate. Yet President Sukarno's regime has managed to survive civil war and opposition, and today it even commands a measure of popular support.
In MOHAMMED, MARX, and MARHAEN, Miss Mintz subjects the ideological roots of Indonesian socialism and that country's governmental structure to a searching examination. She probes deeply into the complex and turbulent nature of Indonesian society which has permitted the roots of guided democracy to take hold, and she poses and answers many vital questions; thus adding to our understanding of this vast Southeast Asian country and of its ruler, who seems determined to make Indonesia a focus of world attention-even at the cost of ruin. With all of Southeast Asia in turmoil, the Western world needs to learn more about the forces that help to shape events. MOHAMMED, MARX, and MARHAEN sheds much-needed light on the complex problems that beset this strife-ridden area.