The 2024 general election and the role of civic education in preventing social polarisation among youth

Abdul Latief; Abd. Rahman; Dermawan

doi:10.21831/jc.v23i2.96022

Authors

Abdul Latief Universitas Al Asyariah Mandar, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8439-363X
Abd. Rahman Universitas Al Asyariah Mandar, Indonesia https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5169-7616
Dermawan Universitas Al Asyariah Mandar, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21831/jc.v23i2.96022

Keywords:

2024 general election, civic education, deliberative democracy, digital civic resilience, social polarisation, youth

Abstract

Indonesia’s 2024 general election unfolded amid intensifying global concerns about democratic resilience, algorithmic polarisation, and the erosion of deliberative public discourse. This study aims to analyse the role of Civic Education in preventing social polarisation among youth in the context of the 2024 Indonesian General Election, with specific attention to: (1) the dynamics of electoral polarisation, (2) factors contributing to youth vulnerability in the digital information landscape, and (3) the capacity of the Merdeka Curriculum to build democratic resilience among young citizens. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) was conducted across Scopus, Web of Science, and SINTA-indexed databases using keywords including “affective polarisation,” “digital political literacy,” “civic education,” “filter bubble,” and “democratic resilience,” yielding 36 articles meeting the inclusion criteria (peer-reviewed, 2017–2025, English and Indonesian). We applied policy analysis to Merdeka Curriculum documents for Pancasila and Civic Education. Findings indicate that youth vulnerability to pernicious polarisation is driven by a “triple vulnerability nexus” comprising algorithmic enclosure in digital public spheres, psychologically reinforced in-group/out-group identity dynamics, and a critical-thinking deficit in formal civic pedagogy. A Gap Analysis of the Merdeka Curriculum reveals that while its normative orientation toward Pancasila values is relatively strong, its implementation systematically avoids deliberative conflict and controversial political issues, leaving young citizens unprepared to navigate filter bubbles and partisan disinformation. This study proposes an original Digital Civic Resilience (DCR) Model as a transferable framework applicable to any electoral democracy confronting pernicious polarisation, with Indonesia providing the empirical grounding for its construction.

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