Introduction

Understanding Thailand's Politics

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3985997
AutoresVeerayooth Kanchoochat (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, autor correspondente), Kevin Hewison (0000-0002-2258-3185, University of Malaya)
Ano2016
Volume46
Fascículo3
Páginas371-387
Data de publicação2016-07-02
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Contemporary Asia (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0047-2336 • E-ISSN: 1752-7554
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00472336.2016.1173305
OpenAlexW2345696990
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas26
Referências citadas53

Thailand's politics from the mid-2000s has seen considerable conflict and contestation, with seven prime ministers, two military coups, and scores of deaths from political violence. This article, as well as introducing the eight articles in the Special Issue, examines various aspects of this tumultuous period and the authoritarian turn in Thai politics. It does this by examining some of the theoretical and conceptual analysis of Thailand's politics and critiquing the basic assumptions underlying the modernisation and hybrid regimes perspectives that have tended to dominate debates on democratisation. While the concepts of bureaucratic polity and network monarchy shed light on important political actors in Thailand, they have not grappled with the persistence of authoritarianism. In theoretical terms, the article suggests that it is necessary to understand historically specific capitalist development as well as the social underpinnings that establish authoritarian trajectories and reinforce the tenacity of authoritarianism

Authoritarianism · Bureaucracy · Democracy · Democratization · Economic system · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Social science · Sociology · Asian Studies and History · Cambodian History and Society · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies