Muhammadiyah merupakan salah satu organisasi sosial keagamaan yang memiliki peranan penting baik pada masa pemerintahan Orde Baru maupun masa reformasi. Peranan Muhammadiyah pada masa Orde Baru ditunjukkan secara kelompok atau atas nama organisasi, sedangkan pada masa reformasi lebih ditunjukkan pada kebebasan anggota untuk berpartisipasi dalam partai politik. Dalam menjalankan peranannya, Muhammadiyah tidak mengalami perubahan atau pergeseran dinamika atau pemikiran dari organisasi sosial keagamaan menjadi organisasi politik praktis. Peran Muhammadiyah lebih banyak ditunjukkan dalam kegiatan dakwah untuk mengembangkan nilai moral melalui etika yang sesuai dengan ajaran agama Islam dengan melalui dua media yakni politik kenegaraan dan sosial keagamaan. Muhammadiyah baik pada masa pra reformasi maupun pasca reformasi telah memberikan kontribusi yang penting terhadap jalannya pemerintahan. Meskipun Muhammadiyah bukan organisasi yang bergerak atau berorientasi pada bidang politik praktis, namun Muhammadiyah selalu aktif memberikan usulan atau masukan bahkan kritikan kepada pemerintah melalui anggota-anggotanya yang sebagian besar terdiri dari kaum intelektual dan para cendekiawan. Sebagai organisasi berbasis sosial keagamaan yang tergolong tua, Muhammadiyah telah banyak memiliki pengalaman baik di bidang agama, sosial, maupun politik kenegaraan. Di bidang agama, Muhammadiyah telah dikenal sebagai suatu organisasi keagamaan yang modern yang menentang dan menghilangkan kegiatan-kegiatan tradisi yang bertentangan dengan ajaran Islam yakni kegiatan yang disadari atau tidak disadari yang tergolong dalam kegiatan menyekutukan Allah. Pada bidang sosial, Muhammadiyah telah berhasil memfasilitasi kebutuhan masyarakat di bidang pendidikan dan kesehatan, sedangkan pada bidang politik kenegaraan, Muhammadiyah telah berpengalaman seperti pernah menjadi anggota Parmusi dan PPP sebagai organisasi politik praktis meskipun tidak berlangsung lama. Sumbangan konkret yang dapat diberikan oleh Muhammadiyah untuk pemerintahan reformasi adalah terpilihnya Amien Rais sebagai Ketua MPR dan beberapa anggota Muhammadiyah lainnya sebagai menteri atau setingkat menteri dalam pemerintahan.

Muhammadiyah is one of religious social organizations that has important roles in both the New Order and Reformation government times. The Muhammadiyah role in the New Order time was indicated collectively or in behalf of the organization, while in the Reformation time it was more indicated by the member freedom to participate in political parties. The study was an qualitative descriptive one by using the library research method. The adopted data collection methods were the historical and interview ones. From the collected data, afterwards they were analyzed in a qualitative descriptive manner by using pluralistical and eclectical approaches. Based on the finding result it was obtained that the Muhammadiyah role in the New Order time was indicated collectively or in behalf of the organization, it meant that member names of Muhammadiyah were less prominent privately. While in the Reformation time they were more indicated by the member freedom to participate in political parties, it meant that member names of Muhammadiyah more appeared privately. Muhammadiyah has experienced no changes or shifts of dynamics or thinking, although it much engaged in political world but it has a persistent status as a religious social organization based on Islam. The contributions of Muhammadiyah to the course of post New Order governments were thoughts conveyed in the form of constructive suggestions or criticisms in strategical areas such as political, economical, law and moral ones. In the political area, Muhammadiyah proposed improvements of irrelevant political laws. In the economical area, Muhammadiyah proposed improvements of banking system. In the law area, Muhammadiyah proposed the law enforcement beginning from the government itself and great respect for the Human Rights. In the moral area, the Muhammadiyah role was realized by giving dakwahs (religious proselytizing) and written statements supporting the reformation movement. Muhammadiyah begun to accommodate local cultures to expand her reach or to embrace the people more extensively by applying a cultural dakwah movement to strive for the nation enlightenment. The real participation given by Muhammadiyah in the post New Order time was Amin Rais’ direct engagement in Indonesia Politics so that he was elected as the chief of People’s Consultative Council and the other Muhammadiyah members were elected to be people representative in the Reformation governments. Based on the finding result above the recommendable things are Muhammadiyah need to build the same critical attitude to the course of the government so that the Reformation goal can be realized; need to improve her role for appearing really in the government sector; need to correct the Reformation goal as is in the Muhammadiyah doctrines.

Kata Kunci : Sosiologi,Elit Muhammadiyah,Reformasi, Muhammadiyah is one of religious social organizations that has important roles in both the New Order and Reformation government times. The Muhammadiyah role in the New Order time was indicated collectively or in beha