<![CDATA[The increasing occurrence of single-candidate local elections in Indonesia raises important questions about the quality of local democracy, particularly in post-conflict regions such as Aceh. While previous studies mainly explain this phenomenon through institutional factors, they pay limited attention to how political dominance acquires social legitimacy. This study examines how the political hegemony of the Aceh Party generated elite consensus and produced a single-candidate election in the 2024 North Aceh local election. Using a qualitative case study approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews and documentary analysis, then analyzed thematically and interpreted through Antonio Gramsci's theory of hegemony. The findings show that the single-candidate election resulted not from institutional arrangements or political pragmatism alone, but from a gradual process of hegemonic consolidation involving historical legitimacy, ideological leadership, elite accommodation, and the production of social consent—mechanisms that transformed political dominance into electoral consensus while formally preserving democratic procedures. This study extends Gramscian theory by showing that hegemonic political practices may develop within formally democratic systems through legitimacy and voluntary consent rather than coercion, contributing to the literature on political hegemony, dominant-party politics, and local democracy in post-conflict societies.]]>
