Is Small Beautiful? Multiparty Politics and Democratic Consolidation in Timor‐Leste

Bibliographic Data

ID6040302
AuthorsDennis Shoesmith (Charles Darwin University, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume4
Issue1
Pages33-51
Publication date2012-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAsian Politics & Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1943-0787 • E-ISSN: 1943-0779
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1943-0787.2011.01318.x
OpenAlexW1764169326
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited10

Drawing on comparisons of the experience of multiparty politics in postcolonial African states and in Papua New Guinea, this article considers whether the party and electoral systems in Timor‐Leste retard a transition to a consolidated democratic polity. Like FRELIMO in Mozambique, the independence party, FRETILIN, committed to a one‐party regime until both parties adopted multiparty politics from the late 1980s. Since independence, Timor‐Leste has been relatively successful in establishing a competitive party system. This article argues, however, that the proliferation of small parties and the necessity to negotiate unstable coalition governments retard the process of democratic consolidation in Timor‐Leste, and the party system undermines effective state governance and restricts rather than broadens democratic representation. A weak multiparty system has encouraged corruption and poor governance in Papua New Guinea, and multiparty politics threaten similar outcomes in Timor‐Leste

Authoritarianism · Consolidation (business · Corporate governance · Democracy · Democratic consolidation · Democratic governance · Democratization · Development economics · Economics · Independence (probability theory · Multi-party system · Negotiation · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Sociology · Timor leste · Transparency (behavior · International Development and Aid · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Public Administration

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