An Overview of the Precepts, Attitudes and Role of Governments and NGOs in Generation Z Political Participation in Singkawang City

Desca Thea Purnama¹, Chainar², Viza Juliansyah³, Sonia Utami⁴, Muhammad Efendi⁵

^1,2,3,4,5 Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik, Universitas Tanjungpura, Pontianak, Indonesia

ABSTRACT: Generation Z political participation refers to the involvement of generation Z in following various political activities, generation Z is also a generation group that is very close to the virtual world. Generation Z in Singkawang City has a very diverse participation and attitude towards politics. In this case, of course, there must be a role for government institutions and civil society to increase the political participation of Generation Z, but Generation Z really needs improvement efforts made through virtual approaches and social media. Singkawang City, which is a city in 2024, will hold general elections and regional head elections in the same year, of course, the role of government agencies and civil society is very important in increasing political participation. This research aims to look at a review of the perceptions, attitudes and roles of the government as well as NGOs in the political participation of generation Z in Singkawang City. The method used in this research is qualitative research with field research so that the results of this research can recognise the role of government institutions and civil society in Singkawang City in increasing the political participation of generation Z.

KEYWORDS: Generation Z, Increased Political Participation, General Elections

INTRODUCTION

Generation Z is a generation group that was born between 1997-2012 and grew in the midst of rapid technological development. Therefore, Generation Z tends to have closeness and skills in using and accessing the internet because Generation Z is very often dealing with various digital platforms. Through the development of Z generation digital technology, they are more open to the information they get from various platforms. This shows that the existence of social media and various other platforms plays an important role in spreading news and various information, one of which is information related to politics (Harsono, 2023).

Generation Z characteristics that are trained in using digital technology to obtain information, of course, can be a potential for government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as well as various parties and candidates by utilising digital technology to increase political participation and generation Z’s interest in politics. Although the information circulating on social media is very diverse and there is information that is not yet known so that this can affect the political participation of generation Z (Hasfi, 2019).

Generation Z is also one of the largest groups of contributors to the vote in the general election in 2024, based on the results of the R&D Kompas survey for the January 2023 period that the enthusiastic rate of political participation of Generation Z is 77.8 %, then as much as 8.6% of Generation Z vote in the upcoming elections only for the presidential election not for other elections and Generation Z also does not want to be part of a group that is antipathy to the election process or become white (Nugrahaeny, 2023).

Picture 1. (Number of Elector Election 2024 Based on Age Group) See in PDF File

Based on the data, voters with the Z generation group are 46,800,161 or 22.85% of the total DPT of the general election. So far, the form of generation Z political participation is to use digital platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and various other platforms to discuss political issues and express their views on politics because through this platform they can communicate and organise quickly and effectively. Besides that, the form of political participation of Generation Z is to protest against political forms by sharing petitions about elections and following various political activities through social media. Generation Z has a very diverse pattern of political participation when compared to other generation groups so this shows a shift in the form of political participation by generation Z (Waeterloos et al., 2021).

Generation Z through its various innovations is able to form new ways of supporting or opposing political issues so as to create new political pressures. Generation Z’s perceptions and attitudes towards the implications of political dynamics have a fairly unique diversity where they prefer to be more sceptical of authority and more independently seeking information. So this requires a special role by the government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in increasing the political participation of Generation Z (Setiyowati et al., 2022).

The role of government and NGOs has a great influence on the political participation of generation Z, various policies that can be carried out by governments and NGOs are by utilising technology in conveying political information and creating platforms to facilitate generation Z’s political participation.

RESULT

2.1. Political Awareness

Political participation is involvement in various political activities, this political participation can be developed through socio-political practises and applications. Political participation does move in a limited way starting from not being involved at all, being involved in a limited way and being fully involved in political activities. Things that usually cause a person not to be involved at all in politics because of his indifferent attitude, not interested in politics, not having political knowledge and not believing that his involvement in politics can affect public policy.

Generation Z in Singkawang City mostly participates in politics because Generation Z in Singkawang City is more interested in entertainment such as games, culinary-related content and even content that contains tourist attractions rather than having to find out about political information.

“So far Generation Z in Singkawang City is less participating in politics because they are more dominantly attracted to the cafe area, the tourist area in Singkawang City is even very interesting with culinary in Singkawang City. In addition, Generation Z also uses their social media more for games and other entertainment and they ignore information related to politics. the government also publishes less about political issues” (Interview on July 11, 2023)

Although they have limited political participation, they still choose to express their right of choice. The lack of generation Z political participation in Singkawang City towards politics is also due to the large circulation of news that spreads political-related hatred. Besides that, there is also a generation Z group in Singkawang City who have an interest in politics because they think that participation in politics is very important in influencing political policies or public policies in the state and community life.

Generation Z in Singkawang City who have awareness of their politics participate in politics by following various social media related to the general election, so that some of them know the candidates, the vision and mission of the candidate candidates and information related to the election through social media. So that through this social media you can see that the prospective candidate has contributed what he has done.

“The level of participation is quite high because the existence of social media is very important so that they can know their candidates and vision and mission because what we know is that Generation Z now rarely watches radio or radio tv, so the role of this media is very important” (Interview on July 12, 2023)

2.2 Trust In Political Effectiveness

Generation Z in Singkawang City has a belief that political effectiveness is not high enough because they see news and even information circulating on various digital platforms related to politics presented, there is still information that spreads hatred against fellow candidates, not even a few corruption problems are also sourced from political parties.

“We see in the media very often news that expresses hatred even we see corruption cases that often occur in our country at this time the perpetrators are those political people, so we do not have complete confidence in political activities” (Interview on July 13, 2023)

The importance of information that is presented effectively because this greatly affects the political participation of generation Z and of course also greatly impacts and changes political activities.

2.3 Freedom Of Expression In Politics

Generation Z in Singkawang City feels that they are given the opportunity to express politics because they are gathered into a group to always communicate on political issues and are free to express opinions on politics, so that to voice political opinions do not feel limited by any party.

“We actually feel happy because we do not feel limited by any party to convey our problems or opinions on politics as long as what we convey does not harm or bring down other parties”. (Interview on July 13, 2023)

2.4 Trust in Political Security and Privacy

Generation Z in Singkawang City has confidence in security and privacy in politics because those who are the digital generation will certainly understand in using mass media so that they first sort out the information they receive before making a decision because generation Z in Singkawang City also understands that in this digital era there are not a few fraud cases that occur only in the name of a party, one of which can be in the name of a political party. Therefore, policies are needed in using mass media.

“Although we are not very proficient in technology but we understand little about technology so that we can see the security limits in participating in politics, we also try to understand what form of fraud or not because there are also cases of fraud in the name of politics, therefore we must be wise in that matter”. (Interview on July 14, 2023)

2.5 Perception of the Relevance of Political Issues

The perception of generation Z in Singkawang City towards political issues is very diverse, seeing that the generation Z political participation group in Singkawang City towards politics consisting of generation Z groups who participate in a limited manner in politics and participate in politics by having political awareness, of course, have different perceptions of the relevance of political issues. This is because of their differences in viewing political activities which of course are also different so that some have the perception that politics has a great influence on the future of the country and of course also affects the lives of the people in the future. In addition, there are those who think that politics will not have an influence on their lives and their participation in politics will also not affect existing politics.

2.6 Political Capacity Building

Efforts to increase generation Z political participation carried out by the government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in Singkawang City are very diverse, one of which is the role of the General Election Commission (KPU) in increasing the political participation of Generation Z in Singkawang City. Seeing that Singkawang City in 2024 will hold simultaneous general elections and regional head elections in the same year, so the role of the Singkawang City KPU is very important in increasing the political partiation of generation Z in the general election, especially through social media because this generation Z is very close to the virtual world.

“We are aware that Generation Z is very close to the virtual world, therefore we will optimise in increasing the participation of this Generation Z in accordance with the instructions from the Indonesian KPU to optimise especially through social media.” (Interview on July 10, 2023)

The Singkawang City General Election Commission in preparation for the implementation of the general election will carry out several programs that try to increase the participation of Generation Z in Singkawang City, one of which is doing several programs through social media and besides that also entering the field directly. Optimisation through this social media must indeed be done starting from the General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia, the Provincial General Election Commission and the City Regency General Election Commission because there are also instructions from the General Election Commission of the Republic of Indonesia.

5.7 Provision of Political Information

Increasing political participation certainly requires the role of the Singkawang City General Election Commission in providing political information through virtual or social media. So far what they have done is to create various social medical accounts belonging to the General Election Commission, namely website, fanpage, facebook, instagram, youtube, tiktok. Through some of these social media they create content that contains invitations to vote in general elections.

“We have a website, facebook, instagram, youtue, fanpage, tiktok, usually we make content such as an invitation to join the election, whether it’s like a story of two people or various other forms of content”. (Interview July 10, 2023)

5.8 Political Campaigns and Advocacy

So far, the Singkawang City General Election Commission has also carried out political advocacy to create an increase in political participation by making Go To School and Go To Campus programs, namely socialisation and voting education. The existence of this socialisation, apart from aiming to convey knowledge related to the understanding of the general election, was also carried out to record the names of students and students who had followed the socialisation to invite into the WhatshApp grub of the Public Relations Coordination Board. The existence of this grub is expected to be a place to exchange information and issues related to the general election and minimise the circulation of hoak news both on social media and in the community.

Besides that, there is also a smart chat program (ngopi) that is carried out to the Singkawang City youth organisation, this program is also carried out to discuss general election issues. This activity is not routinely carried out in a month, but this smart chat is also carried out through the media so that the results of the chat can be shared again to the public at large.

“A few months ago we had a coffee activity, namely chatting about elections with various youth organisations in Singkawang City, usually we visit cafes as well and have election conversations with the media because we hope that the results of our conversations will be shared again with various existing media”. (Interview July 10, 2023)

5.9 Political Involvement

Realising democratic elections, of course, the government and various parties in Singkawang City are given access to freedom to be fully involved in politics, so so far the Singkawang City General Election Commission is trying to carry out a program that involves all community groups to participate in politics. Especially for generation Z of Singkawang City, the General Election Commission also invited them to come to the smart house in the Singkwang City Election Commission to talk and discuss politics. This is of course an effort to create political involvement for all parties in Singkawang City.

5.10 Political Monitoring and Supervision

The existence of sara political issues in Singkawang City is also one of the obstacles to the General Election Commission in carrying out its role to increase the participation of generation Z in Singkawang City. This political park tick occurs because there is a recruitment of candidates who are less democratic. These digital eras, political practises are also vulnerable to occurring on social media which are used as media to spread hatred, spread hoak news and even slander prospective candidates. This of course requires monitoring and supervision of politics to minimise things that can affect political participation.

So far, the efforts made by the Singkawang City Election Commission in increasing the participation of Generation Z in Singkawang City in the 2024 general election are different from the 2019 general election. In 2019, the program gathered more of the masses to campaign through art and music. But in 2024 the program carried out by the General Election Commission focusses more on social media through the creation of content and focusses on the program of anticipating hoak news circulating on social media.

The role of the Electoral Commission, which has carried out its various programs, will be an effort to increase the political participation of Generation Z and create simultaneous elections in a democratic 2024. As researchers have previously been exposure that the role of agencies is needed in increasing the political participation of Generation Z.

 DISCUSSION

Political participation is one of the important aspects in democracy because this opens up space for people to convey the form of their aspirations and voice their rights. Generation Z political participation in Singkawang City is very diverse, some participate in a limited manner and some participate well because they have an interest in political participation, this level of political participation is influenced by their experience and views on politics.

Generation Z also has a very diverse level of political awareness and there are differences between one individual and another and this can change over time with the development of each individual. Having an awareness of politics does not mean acting by following the flow of politics or political parties but being aware of politics is more directed at how induvidu realises its obligations as a member of the community in political actions well so that it is able to be ethically responsible in responding to existing political conditions.

The level of awareness of generation Z in Singkawang City is quite diverse because there is generation Z who have the awareness that political participation is an important thing because it can determine how the system will occur in the future, but besides that there is also generation Z who do not care about politics because they think that politics will not change their lives and they will not affect politics either. They even believe that whoever the candidate is nominated will not change the situation because they are satisfied with the existing political system. But there are also those caused by a sense of disappointment or frustration with the existing political life and the candidate does not fulfil his desire to improve the political system.

The rise of political-related information circulating that pursues the hatred of fellow candidates will also affect the political participation of Generation Z because they will judge political practises from what they see through social media and various other platforms.

Although they have limited political participation, they still choose to express their right of choice. But this generation Z group will be interested in participating in politics if there is information circulating on social media about prospective candidates more accurately and although politics can actually be used as a means to mature understanding in political awareness to be competent intelligently. Political awareness is also difficult to grow by itself but requires institutions to form that awareness. The role of family, peers, mass media and direct interaction with political parties.

Generation Z’s political participation also reflects a unique dynamic when compared to other generations because in generation Z there is freedom of expression to express in the digital world and rapid information. In this case Generation Z can participate in politics widely using social media so that it can easily get information only through social media that can be accessed easily. Generation Z’s freedom through social media in participating in politics also makes Generation Z more critical because they can seek information and find the truth through mass media (Horward & Parks, 2022).

Generation Z in Singkawang City also express their political participation freely through the mass media because they can get information related to politics through the mass media and they also express politics through creative content to voice politics. So far, the Generation Z group in Singkawang City who have an interest in politics also participates in politics by following various social media related to the general election, so that some of them know the candidate candidates, the vision and mission vision of the candidate candidates and election-related information through social media. So that through this social media you can see that the prospective candidate has contributed like what he has done.

Generation Z in Singkawang City which is a generation that is very close to the virtual world and social media, they feel satisfied because of social media they can know the development issues from the general election, this is because every day Generation Z must access social media which of course also circulates many issues related to the general election.

The proximity of Generation Z to social media is of course also a challenge in displaying information related to politics must be accurate and trusted because the political information conveyed will greatly affect the political participation of Generation Z. Access to accurate political information certainly plays a role in playing a political role in democracy. The existence of accurate news or information makes people, especially Generation Z, understand political issues well and have a view of prospective candidates to know what influence they will do in the future (Indrawan et al., 2021).

The importance of accurate political information will also greatly enable Generation Z to have a high interest in political participation because they understand various views on politics and believe that the resulting policies will reflect the interests and values of society. It is different if the information seen by Generation Z circulates inaccurately, it will certainly affect the political participation of Generation Z.

Efforts that can be made in increasing political participation and political awareness of generation Z is with the existence of political education in the distribution era for generation Z which is in dire need of special needs. Political education can be used as a means for generation Z in increasing understanding of politics. In generation Z, political education is no longer carried out by campaigning, displaying billboards on the side of the road or socialisation-socialisation as usual. But political education in Generation Z must be done by utilising technology as interestingly as possible and taking an approach through content on social media.

In political participation, of course, it also concerns security and privacy in political participation, Generation Z, which is a generation group that knows about digital, will certainly understand digital security where Generation Z has vigilance in spreading fake news which can affect Generation Z in political participation. So that Generation Z is very careful in using digital platforms to convey political views, so that Generation Z in Singkawang City they use digital platforms to discuss political issues and engage in political protests with full control.

The role of government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) also greatly affects the political participation of Generation Z because this institution plays an important role in increasing the understanding of political participation. In this case, of course, political education is needed which can be done by adjusting the characteristics of generation Z which is very close to social media, of course, it also requires political education through social media. The thing that can be done by the government and NGOs is to go through social media by displaying political content that is presented interestingly and of course is information that has transparency in government policies. This aims to create a better understanding of politics so that Generation Z can actively participate.

The government in Singkawang City has a diverse role in increasing the political participation of Generation Z, especially the General Election Commission (KPU) of Singkawang City also conducts political education to Generation Z through social media by creating various accounts such as Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and various other media to display political content in order to increase the political participation of Generation Z. Besides that, there is also political education that is carried out by coming to schools, campuses and even making smart homes at the Singkawang City General Election Commission Office.

In addition, the Singkawang City General Election Commission also created a Public Relations Coordination Agency WhatsApp Grub. The existence of this grub is expected to be a place to exchange information and issues related to the general election and minimise the circulation of hoak news both on social media and in the community. The hope is that through this group, Generation Z can participate in politics without hesitation and train Generation Z in using social media or other platforms for political needs.

The political campaign is also one of the roles that must be done in increasing the political participation of Generation Z in addition to doing political education, so that this can be presented interestingly and done through a media approach so that Generation Z can know and understand the candidate’s vision and mission.

Various other roles carried out by the Singkawang City General Election Commission also invited generation Z in Singkawang City to visit the Singkawang City Election Commission in order to get information related to politics at the Singkawang City General Election Commission where there is an election smart house for educational media to convey knowledge in voting and various other information related to the general election as a form of giving generation Z the opportunity to get involved in politics.

The application of this role through various programs also requires monitoring of the political participation of generation Z. Therefore, in order to create the success of the general election which is a means of national integrity, the General Election Commission seeks to carry out these various programs in collaboration with the Singkawang City Regional Government, the Ministry of Communication and Information (KOMINFO) of Singkawang City, the National Unity and Political Agency (Kasbampol) of Singkawang City, the Singkawang City Education Office, the Indonesian National Army (TNI), the Indonesian National Police (POLRI) and various other stakeholders. This collaboration is also carried out with the aim of creating participation from various parties such as social organisations in Singkawang City.

CONCLUSION

This research sees that the political participation of generation Z in Singkawang City mostly they participate on a limited basis in politics because generation Z in Singkawang City is less interested in finding out information related to politics and they are more interested in other entertainment. In addition, they think that they will not have an influence in politics and politics nor will they change their situation. Besides that, there is also a generation Z group in Singkawang City who participate in politics because they realise that the importance of participating in politics is one way to determine the future of the nation in the future.

So far in Singkawang City there have been several efforts that have been made by government agencies, namely by the Singkawang City General Election Commission (KPU) through its various programs, both programs applied through social media and programs applied directly in the field. Seeing that generation Z is one of the biggest voters in the general election and generation Z is also a generation group that is very close to social media, so there are already several programs that have been implemented by the General Election Commission (KPU) through social media as an effort to increase the political participation of Generation Z.

1. THANK YOU

The implementation of this research, of course, there are parties who have played a big role in launching. Therefore, the author would like to thank the Head of the Singkawang City General Election Commission who has given his permission and availability in sharing information related to this research and the author also said to all generations of Z of Singkawang City who have been willing to share their information.

1. DISCLOSURE

In this study there is no potential conflict of interest.

REFERENSI

1. Harsono, H. (2023). Politik Identitas dan Partisipasi Politik di Media Sosial Analisis Model Struktural Pada Generasi Z di Kota Malang. Electoral Governance Jurnal Tata Kelola Pemilu Indonesia, Vol 4(No 2).
2. Hasfi, N. (2019). Komunikasi Politik di Era Digital. Jurnal Ilmu Politik, Vol 10(No 1).
3. Horward, P. N., & Parks, M, R. (2022). Social Media and Political Change : Capacity, Constraint and Consequence. Journal of Communication, Vol 1(No 1).
4. Indrawan, J., Rosa, A. J., Ilmae, A., & Nathanail, G. K. (2021). Partisipasi Politik Masyarakat di Era Politik Siber. Journal of Political Issues, Vol 3(No 1).
5. Nugrahaeny, D. E. (2023). Survey Litbang Kompas Gen Z Lebih Ingin Memilih Capres Saja Di Pemilu 2024. Kompas. https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2023/02/27/11571551/survey-litbang-kompas-gen-z-lebih-ingin-memilih-capres-saja-di-pemilu-2024

6. Setiyowati, R., Alfiandra, & Nurdiansyah, E. (2022). Pendidikan Politik Generasi Z di Era Distrupsi. Jurnal Bhineka Tunggal Ika Kajian Teori Dan Praktik Pendidikan PKN, Vol 9(No 01).
7. Waeterloos, C., Walrave, M., & Ponnrt, K. (2021). Designing and Validating the Social Media Political Participation Scale : An Instrument to Measure Political Participation on Social Media. Technology in Society.