Pancasila democracy retained the forms of representative democracy mandated by the 1945 constitution, but the content was refashioned to fit the requirements of the New Order. Political parties existed to channel popular energies into support for government goals. Elections were "Festivals of Democracy" to make people feel a part of the system. Underlying the formal "depoliticized" political system in the early 1990s was an intense political dynamic in which leading institutions and groups competed for power and influence in shaping Indonesia's future.

Data as of November 1992