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160Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesiaexecutive, legislative, and judiciary; between the central andregional governments; how to ensure freedom of expression andfreedom of the press, and so on. What we had then was simplythe courage to change.The accumulation of reform demands reached its peak withthe shooting of four Trisakti University students on May 12,1998. That tragic event, like the lighting of a fuse, ignited thesocial and political explosion that became the gateway toIndonesia%u2019s democratic era, marked by a dramatic change innational leadership.The euphoria of democratization, human rights, andfreedom of expression became unstoppable. Freedom itselfseemed to go beyond all limits, even exceeding what wasacceptable in the most liberal and democratic nations. Whereonce our heroic spirit was %u201conce free, forever free,%u201d that spiritevolved into %u201conce free, utterly free.%u201dAs an emotional and historic decision, born of unrestrainedanger, it was unlikely that calm, rational, aspirational,participatory, and anticipatory reflections could have taken placeto weigh the full consequences and implications of thatdecision%u2014including our choice to implement the openproportional electoral system.Thus, we moved from one extreme to another. Consequently,even after a quarter of a century of democracy, we still appearto be searching for direction%u2014still seeking the true form of thedemocratic society we aspire to build.In his inaugural professorial lecture, Boediono stated thatnumerous studies show the level of economic development is acrucial determinant of democracy%u2019s sustainability. A widely citedstudy concludes that, based on empirical evidence from 1950%u2013