Thailand’s Deep State,Royal Power and the Constitutional Court (1997–2015)

ABSTRACT

This article challenges the network monarchy approach and advocates for the use of the concept of Deep State. The Deep State also has the monarchy as its keystone, but is far more institutionalised than the network monarchy accounts for. The institutionalised character of the anti-democratic alliance is best demonstrated by the recent use of courts to hamper the rise of electoral politics in a process called judicialisation of politics. This article uses exclusive material from the minutes of the 1997 and 2007 constitution-drafting assemblies to substantiate the claim that the Deep State used royalists’ attempts to make the Constitutional Court a surrogate king for purposes of its own self-interested hegemonic preservation.     

泰爱泰党与泰国的政治发展

泰爱泰党以自己清晰具体的政策和组建大联盟政府的具体做法给泰国的政治发展注入了某种活力,在某种程度上,使泰国政治超越了传统的金钱政治以及政治掮客的控制,实现了资源分配的相对公平,实现了政府权力的长期稳定运行.而泰爱泰党之所以能够做到这一点,关键在于该党政治家及时地顺应了社会的要求.     

论文莱独特的君主政体

独立后的文莱,在政治上建立了君主立宪制,虽然在其形式上可以看到英国政治体制方方面面的痕迹,但它在本质上传承了文莱传统政治文化的精髓。换言之,文莱采用了英国君主立宪制的外衣,而传统的王朝体系才是这种体制的根本。苏丹通过马来化和穆斯林政策,强化君权统治,使得文莱成为当今世界上少数几个完全由王室掌权的国家之一。     

The rise and fall of “respectable” Spanish liberalism, 1808–1923: an explanatory framework

Abstract

The article focuses on the reasons behind both the consolidation of what I have termed “respectable” liberalism between the 1830s and the 1840s and its subsequent decline and fall between 1900 and 1923. In understanding both processes I study the links established between “respectable” liberals and propertied elites, the monarchy, and the Church. In the first phase these links served to consolidate the liberal polity. However, they also meant that many tenets of liberal ideology were compromised. Free elections were undermined by the operation of caciquismo, monarchs established a powerful position, and despite the Church hierarchy working with liberalism, the doctrine espoused by much of the Church was still shaped by the Counter-Reformation. Hence, “respectable” liberalism failed to achieve a popular social base. And the liberal order was increasingly denigrated as part of the corrupt “oligarchy” that ruled Spain. Worse still, between 1916 and 1923 the Church, monarch, and the propertied elite increasingly abandoned the liberal Monarchist Restoration. Hence when General Primo de Rivera launched his coup the rug was pulled from under the liberals’ feet and there was no one to cushion the fall.     

Switzerland on the Road from a Consociational to a Centrifugal Democracy?

Can Switzerland still be classified as an example of consociational democracy, characterized by power sharing and elite cooperation, by the second decade of the 21^st century? Drawing on Lijphart's typology of consociational and centrifugal regimes, an analysis of the transformation of Swiss democracy reveals that while Switzerland continues to display institutional elements of power sharing, a polarizing and competitive trend can be observed in the governing style of the elite. Increasingly adversarial elite behaviour and a growing polarization within parliament and government as well as with regards to referendums indicate a growing shift toward centrifugal democracy.     

On the Ruins of the Democratic Transition: Human Rights as an Agenda Item in Abeyance for the Brazilian Democracy

This article discusses one of the main controversies in Brazilian society at this moment: the development of a national policy of human rights and the return of the debate on political crimes committed under the military dictatorship from 1964 onwards. The main hypothesis associates the barriers imposed on that human rights policy to the way in which democracy was retaken in the country and the model on which important segments related to the authoritarian government occupied strategic roles. Even today, this presents a real difficulty in terms of recovery and, if necessary, punishment for the crimes committed by the government during the dictatorship, which in turn makes the development of human rights policies more complicated.     

民主在东南亚的前提条件和发展趋势

20世纪50、60年代民主政体在东南亚国家的实行均以流产而告终,威权主义代替民主政体对东南亚国家的稳定和发展起到了巨大的作用.本文认为"民主"之树移植容易,但是开花结果却需要许多前提条件.本文从经济、文化和社会基础三个角度分析东南亚国家实行"民主"所需的相应条件.并对"民主"在东南亚的发展趋势作了简短预测.     

象谚语与泰人的女性崇拜——从中国南方的象耕古风说开去

中国南方在唐代仍保持象耕这种落后的农业耕作方式.泰人没有象耕的记载,但象在先民落后的生产生活中占据重要位置,反映在语言中就是象谚语的创造和沿用,从中可以透视出被人们淡忘的泰民族女权文化史及其发展变迁.     

A Kingdom in Crisis – What’s All the Fuss About?

This article reviews Andrew MacGregor Marshall’s A Kingdom in Crisis: Thailand’s Struggle for Democracy in the Twenty-First Century, a book on how Thailand’s political challenges relate to the Thai monarchy. The review draws comparisons between the excitement surrounding the publication of the acclaimed book The King Never Smiles in 2006 and the recent reaction to the publication of A Kingdom in Crisis. It argues that the book is an important contribution because it informs a wide audience about the damaging political role of the monarchy, but it repeatedly ignores an already existing corpus of literature that deals critically with Thailand’s monarchy. Moreover, its focus on the succession as the key factor in the ongoing political crisis is unnecessarily narrow and should have been complemented by an analysis of structural forces as drivers of change.     

Introduction: Understanding Thailand’s Politics

ABSTRACT

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.     

Petitions and ‘legitimate’ engagement with power in absolutist Denmark 1660–1800

ABSTRACT

Petitioning was universal across early modern Europe, but worked differently within distinct polities. Denmark-Norway became, after 1660, an absolute hereditary dual monarchy, with no further meetings of the Estates, and no other formal representative structures. The crown, however, did fully acknowledge the right to petition, confirming the mechanism and the legal basis for doing so in the full law code of 1683, Danske Lov. Petitions from all levels of society were processed in the central bureaucracy, and those processed through the Chancellery (Danske Kancelli) can be analysed systematically. However, a number of petitions were handled separately in the Exchequer (Rentekammer) or through the legal system. This article discusses the different types of petitions to the Danish crown, and analyses some examples that illustrate not merely the complicated negotiation of power within an absolute monarchy, but also the kind of language and cultural conventions necessary for the system to work.     

诗琳通-中泰人民的友好使者

中泰友好关系源远流长,两国人民之间有亲戚般的深厚友谊.自1975年建交以来,中泰两国传统友好关系得到了全面发展.中泰关系堪称不同社会制度国家睦邻友好和互利合作的典范.诗琳通公主是中国人民熟悉的老朋友,23年里18次访华,走遍了神州大地.由于公主殿下对中国的历史、语言、文化具有浓厚的兴趣和较深的造诣,先后出版了十几部关于中国的著作,并翻译了大量的中国诗词和小说,为促进中国语言和文化在泰国的传播发挥了不可替代的作用,为促进中泰两国人民的相互了解和传统友谊作出了重要贡献,是一位杰出的中泰友好使者.在泰国王室的高度重视和亲自推动下,手足情深的中泰传统友谊和友好合作关系在21世纪一定会有更美好的前景,并将永远发扬光大,世代相传.     

从“自由民主”到“可控民主”:俄罗斯政治体制改革的经济学解析与启示

从"自由民主"到"可控民主"俄罗斯的民主政治改革引起了广泛关注.本文在梳理俄罗斯政治体制改革曲折历程的基础上,力图运用放宽了假定条件的"新比较经济学"分析框架,解读俄罗斯政治体制改革与经济绩效之间的因果关系.文章认为,关于俄罗斯实行"可控民主"制度原因的诸多分析中,历史传统回归论是正确的,所以"可控民主"在俄罗斯将具有持久的生命力.     

The United States as a Plural Society: Towards a Consociational Solution?

Although the United States is not a consociational democracy, it is of considerable interest to consociational scholars. Not only is it in many respects a plural society, its political practice and thought include rudimentary elements of consociationalism’s four defining characteristics. That these institutions and practices have not developed further is unsurprising, given the generally unfavorable conditions for racial or ideological consociationalism there. Furthermore, factors such as the U.S.’s competitive political culture and its history of racial inequality present special challenges for consociational theory and practice. Meanwhile, the possibilities for addressing current ideological polarization by consociational means are limited, while ideological cleavage as such presents its own challenges. Nevertheless, several areas for reform remain possible, while changing ethno‐demographic conditions could make U.S.‐American consociationalism more likely in the next several decades. Furthermore, these considerations open up several potentially fruitful lines for further research into consociational democracy and the conditions that foster it.     

简析泰国皇家学术院在泰国标准语发展中的作用

泰语是泰国的标准语,泰国皇家学术院作为泰国在语言规划和语言政策方面最具权威性的官方研究机构,对泰语的发展起了重要作用,其地位相当于法国的法兰西学院和西班牙的塞万提斯学院。本文主要从泰语标准的规范、新词汇的认定、泰语的宣传和保护以及对国家语言政策的制定提供依据等方面简要分析泰国皇家学术院对泰语的发展所起的作用。     

Branding Dissent: Nitirat,Thailand’s Enlightened Jurists

Abstract

This article examines the political role of a group of academic lawyers based at Thammasat University who have been seeking to reform various aspects of the Thai legal and judicial system. The seven-member group started out by criticising the illegality of the 2006 coup. After the 2010 crackdown against redshirt protestors, the group named itself Nitirat and started to hold seminars, draft legal proposals, and campaign to amend various laws. Nitirat has repeatedly challenged the legal and constitutional underpinnings of three key elements of the Thai state: the judiciary, the military, and the monarchy. In doing so, the group has gained a mass following, drawn mainly from those sympathetic to the “redshirt” movement which broadly supports former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Informally led by scholar Worajet Pakeerat, Nitirat has created a popular branding which is reflected in huge audiences for public events, and the sales of souvenirs. The article aims to answer the following questions: How does Nitirat combine the roles of legal academic and political activist? How does it differ from the traditional mode of Thai public intellectuals? How significant is the Nitirat phenomenon?