Has Tolerance Improved in Indonesia? This is the Research

Tolerance levels in Indonesian cities have generally remained largely unchanged in recent years. This is evident from the Tolerant City Index (ICI) compiled by the Setara Institute.

The ICI is an index that shows the performance of city governments and communities in managing harmony, tolerance, national insight, and social inclusion.

The Setara Institute measured the ICI in 94 Indonesian cities using 8 indicators, namely:

* Regional Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMD);
* Discriminatory policies;
* Intolerance incidents;
* Civil society dynamics;
* Public statements by city governments;
* Concrete actions by city governments;
* Religious heterogeneity; and
* Religious social inclusion.

The results are then formulated into a score on a scale of 1-7, with the following meanings:

* Score 1: Very intolerant
* Score 2: Intolerant
* Score 3: Fairly intolerant
* Score 4: Neutral
* Score 5: Fairly tolerant
* Score 6: Tolerant
* Score 7: Very tolerant

In 2015, the national average ICI score reached 4.75, falling into the "neutral" category.

The figure then fluctuated, until the average score became 5.03 in 2022, falling into the "fairly tolerant" category.

Despite the increase in score, the Setara Institute assesses the improvement as insignificant, even stagnant.

"The graph of the average ICI score from 2015 to 2022 remains between 4 and 5, indicating stagnation in the management of tolerance in Indonesian cities," wrote the Setara Institute in its 2022 Tolerant City Index report.

However, the Setara Institute stated that this stagnation did not occur evenly. Some cities saw their tolerance index rise, while others saw it fall.

According to the Setara Institute, the decrease in the ICI score is generally triggered by two things: the strengthening of socio-cultural identities, and the weakening of the city's legal-structural dimension in guaranteeing religious freedom.

"There is a tendency in society to prioritize religious identity by claiming it as a public consensus, which then encourages city governments to also agree to intolerant attitudes," they said.