Illiberal Democrats versus Undemocratic Liberals: The Struggle Over the Future of Thailand's Fragile Democracy

Abstract

This article examines the inter-related factors that underpin the fragility of Thailand's democracy. Uneven economic development, the high levels of income inequality, and unequal access to power and resources are significant drivers of Thailand's ongoing political conflict. Social divides across classes and regions, and populist exploitation of the rural poor's sense of alienation from the traditional ruling elites, provide a volatile backdrop to national politics. In addition, Thailand's unstable political history and the weakness of liberal institutions present risks to its democracy. The army, the revered monarch and the judiciary comprise elites whose periodic interventions in politics and reservations about electoral democracy further render the Thai polity fragile. Thailand's political situation represents a ‘slow-burning’ crisis of democracy: a long-term historical confrontation developing slowly, with the fundamental issues unresolved. It is undergoing a period of social turmoil fuelled by a power struggle between competing material interests and by an ideational contest to determine the country's constitutive political rules. This can be conceptualised as a struggle for control of Thailand's future between a heterogeneous populist-capitalist movement of illiberal democracy and conservative forces of undemocratic liberalism.     

From Situations of Dependency to Globalized Social Democracy

President Cardoso's recent assessment of the prospects for “globalized social democracy” raises, once again, the question of what space for agency exists within the global political economy for actors in the South, which was central to the analysis Cardoso and Faletto presented in Dependency and Development 40 years ago. Dependency and Development's “historical–structural” approach balanced belief in the possibility of political agency with a keen appreciation of structural constraint. Cardoso's current exploration of global possibilities carries forward both tradition of the historical–structural method, arguing that social democracy is an option in the South and that the globalized social democrats in the South will play a growing role in shaping global political institutions. He does not explore the possibility that social democrats in the South may need to play a role in shaping global economic rules. This paper argues that reconstructing global market rules is crucial to the long-run success of “globalized social democracies” in the South and that such reconstruction, however difficult, lies within the realm of the historically viable.     

金融危机下北欧社会民主主义经济模式再考察

北欧模式以其既稳定又有创新能力的经济体系,高水平的社会保障和多党议会制民主体制,一直被学界视为经济与社会发展的典范模式,而金融危机下北欧经济表现如何,其恢复滞后的深层次原因何在?本文以北欧地产泡沫破灭引发经济衰退的实证研究入手,对北欧模式进行了梳理与评估,对北欧多党议会制度治理模式与经济泡沫产生的关联性进行了必要的分析,并在总结北欧住房模式"双轨制"弊病的同时,分析了防范房地产泡沫风险可资参考的经验教训.     

The Determinants of the Success of Transitions to Democracy

The article provides an analysis of the determinants of the success of transitions to democracy based on a combination of qualitative comparative analysis of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia; and hierarchical clustering. The key finding is that one can reveal configurations of several factors which jointly determine either continuous or disrupted transitions to democracy.     

The American Founders Entrusted Elites to Save Democracy from Itself

The word “democracy” does not appear in the US Constitution . Nor in the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence . That is because, as most Americans today would likely be surprised to discover , America's Founding Fathers not only distrusted democracy but, based on their close reading of Greek and Roman history, were actually hostile to the notion that it was the best system for governing society .     

From nation to class: The changing social role of the Hungarian nobility

Presented at the Conference of Social Stratification and Mobility in Comparative Perspectives, Inter-University Centre, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, May 1986.     

和谐社会的构建:从社会排斥到社会融合

和谐社会是社会主义的本质追求。目前存在一系列不安全因素影响我国建设和谐社会的进程。构建社会安全网 ,消除社会排斥 ,让弱势群体融入社会 ,维护社会安全 ,是构建和谐社会的内在要求和客观必然。     

西方社会的新变化对政党的挑战

20世纪 70年代以来 ,西方社会发生了一系列新的变化。新经济、新社会运动、后物质主义的思想价值观、媒体社会以及民主制度的进一步发展 ,对这些国家的政党 ,尤其是以社会民主党和共产党为代表的左翼政党提出了挑战     

法国社会党对社会民主主义理论革新的贡献

随着经济全球化的发展,西欧社会党面临新的挑战.它们都在关注社会民主主义的革新问题,法国社会党在这方面作出了重大贡献.它既强调不与资本主义决裂,又坚持对资本主义的批判;既坚持改良主义,又强调国家的"主观能动性";同时还强调自己是一个"跨阶级的政党",提倡多元主义政治.     

The Polish Commissioner for Citizens' Rights Protection: Decaying Communism to Pluralist Democracy Through An Ombudsman's Eyes

The Polish Commissioner for Citizens' Rights Protection was established during the Communist regime but survived the transition to plural democracy after 1989, despite suggestions that the Office was a survival from the Communist era which ought to be dismantled as part of the transition to democracy. His role has involved securing respect for the law by officials who were accustomed to ignore it so long as they followed the Communist Party's 'line'. Equally, many citizens still find challenging officialdom daunting because of their experience of the old regime. Hence much of the Commissioner's work has entailed pursuing official illegalities through the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Administrative Court, rather than pursuing claims of maladministration. The Commissioner has become engaged in several of the major controversies facing Polish society, in particular the introduction of religious instruction into the public schools and the circumstances in which an abortion may legally be carried out. Also, there have been many complaints about the government's inability to maintain social security payments. Furthermore, successive Commissioners have criticized the inability of President and Sejm to agree on a new constitution. The Commissioner is now securely established among European ombudsmen and the Office has become an important factor in ensuring his country's compliance with its international obligations, especially in the field of human rights.     

Modernization and Change in Social Housing: The Case for an Organizational Perspective

It is argued that past approaches to the research of housing policy and housing organizations are now inadequate and unable to provide a clear explanation of modernization and change. The modernization of social housing is associated with changing core organizational competencies and the movement towards a variety of partnership approaches. In response we develop a tripartite theoretical framework based around new institutional economics, strategic management and institutional theory. An exploratory review of the evidence at a sectoral level (examining social housing as a field, regulation and the profession) and the organizational level (focusing upon changing organization behaviour) is used to illustrate the legitimacy of this approach. In conclusion a research agenda is outlined.