This study evaluated the weakness of Seymour Martin Lipset's claim that inclusion is essential for democratic legitimacy. It examined the relationship between the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) government and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI). This qualitative study relied on primary data from interviews with SBY and MUI elites, social philosophers, and democratic researchers. The secondary data was taken from document evaluations. The findings showed that, first, the change in MUI's culture to conservative-radical resulted from the meeting between conservative and radical figures from the Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), and the Indonesian Mujahidin Council (MMI). Second, the SBY government's collaboration with MUI was carried out through a) the accommodation for the conservative elite, Ma'ruf Amin, to become a member of the Presidential Advisory Council, b) providing several incentives for MUI, and c) changing radical MUI fatwa into the state law. However, these policies created a sense of injustice and a threat to human rights and religious freedom, specifically for minority groups.