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Abstract
Popularity and patronage relations of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) elite and Islamic boarding schools have great power in local political dynamics. The participation of religious elites is a tool for political interests to perpetuate power, such as preserving
dynastic politics that is considered to hinder the democratic process, creating corruption, collusion, and nepotism. The patron relationship – the client of the Islamic boarding school provides a great advantage because it has a very high probability of winning the contest for the regional head election and the legislative election. This paper aims to analyze the power of oligarchs and the politics of Islamic boarding schools in the context of local political dynamics in Indonesia. The study results show that dynastic politics undermines the pillars of democracy in Indonesia. The factors that cause the political oligarchy of power are influenced by the popularity of the big name of the pesantren and patronage relations, so the elite social movement of the pesantren emerges to build dynastic politics. This paper suggests that actors from Islamic boarding schools who will compete in general elections, both legislative and regional head elections, should improve their self-competence. Islamic boarding schools should not become a tool to perpetuate power for personal materialistic interests.
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