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Thai Politics
"A must-read.... This much-needed and refreshing alternative to simple institutional examinations provides a deep exploration of Thailand and its political upheavals." --Denise M. Horn, Simmons College The prospects for Thailand¿s emergence as a democracy seemed strong in the 1990s. Yet, as most recently demonstrated by military coups in 2006 and 2014, that hasn¿t happened. Why not? Why have factors typically considered advantageous for democratization turned into barriers? Is there a uniquely Thai reason that democratization efforts have failed? Daniel Unger and Chandra Mahakanjana explore the intersecting and often contradictory forces that are shaping the nature of Thai politics today. Paying overdue attention to a complex of social, cultural, and institutional dynamics, they offer a nuanced portrait of the ongoing tug-of-war between authoritarian and democratic impulses. Daniel H. Unger teaches political science at Thammasat University. Chandra Mahakanjana teaches in the Graduate School of Public Administration at Thailand¿s National Institute of Development Administration.
Aid Imperium
How US foreign policy affects state repression
Local Organizations and Urban Governance in East and Southeast Asia
This edited collection brings together enterprising pieces of new research on the many forms of organization in East and Southeast Asia that are sponsored or mandated by government, but engage widespread participation at the grassroots level. Straddling the state-society divide, these organizations play important roles in society and politics, yet remain only dimly understood. This book shines a spotlight on this phenomenon, which speaks to fundamental questions about how such societies choose to organize themselves, how institutions of local governance change over time, and how individuals respond to and make use of the power of the state. The contributors investigate organizations ranging ...
Royal Capitalism
"Classical theorists once predicted that monarchy must eventually give way to capitalism. But is monarchy really dead--an archaic institution from the feudal past? In Royal Capitalism: The Monarchy, Wealth, and Social Classes in Thailand, Puangchon Unchanam examines one particularly successful monarchy: that of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej or Rama IX, whose seven-decade reign not only survived but thrived amid the country's transition to industrial capitalism. Indeed, the Thai crown's active role in national politics, the market economy, and popular culture has made it not only the dominant institution in the kingdom, but also the wealthiest monarchy in the world today. Tracing Rama IX...
Trapped in the Middle?
Trapped in the Middle? investigates whether middle-income traps really exist and, in case they do, how these pitfalls are manifested, their causes, what economic policy measures are required to escape from them, and what international cooperation can do to support this process.
The Karen Revolution in Burma
This study analyses the various types and stages of conflict that have been experienced by diverse groups and generations of Karen over the six decades of armed conflict between the Karen National Union (KNU) and successive Burmese governments. Instead of focusing on those who are internally displaced, those in the refugee camps on the Thai-Burma border or living abroad, or those in the KNU, it places particular emphasis on the "other" Karen, or the majority segment of the Karen population living inside Burma, a population that has hitherto received little scholarly and journalistic attention. It also assesses the Karen people's varied attitudes toward a number of political organizations tha...
Roots of the State
Most social science studies of local organizations tend to focus on "civil society" associations, voluntary associations independent from state control, whereas government-sponsored organizations tend to be theorized in totalitarian terms as "mass organizations" or manifestations of state corporatism. Roots of the State examines neighborhood associations in Beijing and Taipei that occupy a unique space that exists between these concepts. Benjamin L. Read views the work of the neighborhood associations he studies as a form of "administrative grassroots engagement." States sponsor networks of organizations at the most local of levels, and the networks facilitate governance and policing by buil...
Autonomy and Armed Separatism in South and Southeast Asia
Armed separatist insurgencies have created a real dilemma for many national governments of how much freedom to grant aggrieved minorities without releasing territorial sovereignty over the nation-state. This book examines different approaches that have been taken by seven states in South and Southeast Asia to try and resolve this dilemma through various offers of autonomy. Providing new insights into the conditions under which autonomy arrangements exacerbate or alleviate the problem of armed separatism, this comprehensive book includes in-depth analysis of the circumstances that lead men and women to take up arms in an effort to remove themselves from the state's borders by creating their own independent polity.
Institutional Engineering and Political Accountability in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines
Political accountability is a crucial element of any democracy since it is a safeguard against power abuse and corruption, both urgent problems of many political systems in Southeast Asia. Based on social science theories, the author analyses from a comparative perspective the ways institutional engineering concerning different dimensions of political accountability influenced the quality of democracy in Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. By highlighting the successes and shortcomings, this book evaluates the degree these institutional reforms resulted in the deepening, stagnation, or regression of the respective democratization processes in these three Southeast Asian countries.
