Thailand's Failed 2014 Election

The Anti-Election Movement, Violence and Democratic Breakdown

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4875444
AutoresPrajak Kongkirati (0009-0000-0221-5951, Thammasat University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen46
Número3
Páginas467-485
Fecha de publicación2016-07-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Contemporary Asia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-2336 • E-ISSN: 1752-7554
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00472336.2016.1166259
OpenAlexW2332262361
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas23
Referencias citadas21

Thailand's politics is in a fragile state. A lack of consensus around basic "rules of the game" among elites and civil societal groups renders the country highly volatile and unstable. Violence has been all too evident in recent political disputes. The February 2, 2014 elections witnessed a significant change in the pattern of electoral violence. It changed from targeted killings among rival candidates to mob violence aimed at disrupting the electoral processes and institutions. The degree of violence was the highest in the country's electoral history. Urban middle class protesters, mobilised as the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) employed violent tactics to disrupt electoral voter registration, voting and vote counting activities. Six million registered voters were affected by the closure of polling stations. The PDRC's animosity towards the election marked an unprecedented development. By disrupting the election, it rejected the peaceful and democratic way for the public to decide who should govern. The case of the PDRC movement demonstrated that activities of confrontational civil society can sometimes cause deadly conflicts and the breakdown of democracy

Civil society · Democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidential election · Sociology · State (computer science · Voter registration · Voting · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Asian Studies and History · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies