COVERAGE.docx

**COVERAGE** *(Concepts and countries that needs to be tackled)* Governance Map of Southeast Asia (Countries and their Capitals) Thailand Myanmar Vietnam Cambodia ***Governance according to UNDP*** - The system of values, policies and institutions by which a society manages its econom...

**COVERAGE** *(Concepts and countries that needs to be tackled)* Governance Map of Southeast Asia (Countries and their Capitals) Thailand Myanmar Vietnam Cambodia ***Governance according to UNDP*** - The system of values, policies and institutions by which a society manages its economic, political and social affairs through the interactions within and among the state, civil society and public sector. ***Good Governance Key Principles*** 1. Participation 2. Inclusivity 3. No Discrimination 4. Equality 5. Rule of Law 6. Accountability ***Map of Southeast Asia*** *Southeast Asian Countries: Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, and East Timor* ***Countries and their Capitals*** Myanmar Naypyidaw ------------- --------------------- Vietnam Hanoi Laos Vientiane Thailand Bangkok Cambodia Phnom Penh Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Singapore Singapore Indonesia Jakarta Brunei Bandar Seri Begawan Philippines Manila East Timor Dili ***Key Terms*** - Structure of government: **Bicameral** - Form of government: **Constitutional Monarchy** - Two key cultural institutions: **Buddhism and Monarchism** - Current King: **Maha Vajiralongkorn** (Tenth monarch from Chakri Dynasty) - Current Prime Minister: **Paetongtarn Shinawatra** ***Definition of Terms*** - **Bicameral** -- Composed of the House of Representatives and Senate - **Constitutional Monarchy** -- The constitution limits the powers of the monarchs 1. *Head of the State -- **Monarch/King*** 2. *Head of the Government -- **Prime Minister*** - **Monarchs** -- Chosen by succession - **Prime Minister** -- Nominated by the House of Representatives and appointed by the monarchs. - **Tiger Economy** -- Thailand ranks one of the tiger economies in Southeast Asia and is considered an economic success story with global recognition. - **Deva-raja --** Means "god-kings" - **Sakdina --** A feudal-like system that provides structure and hierarchy to the social and political relationship of the Thais. All persons in the Ayutthaya kingdom were given sakdina rankings to the amount of land or number of people they controlled. - **Chakri Dynasty --** Lead the centralized government that arose in Bangkok after Ayutthaya. Chakri kings were reform oriented- systematizing administrative structures, freeing slaves, bringing in highly educated technocrats, and ensuring independence of the nation from Western colonialists. - **Bramee --** Cultural Charisma - **Nakleng --** Tough guy - **Chim Pai, Bon Pai --** Tasting and Complaining ***Period of Events*** - **1238-1350** -- The Sukothai Kingdom was the first Thai controlled kingdom in history. - **1350-1767** -- Considered as the Ayutthaya period where the Sukothai Kingdom expanded and retracted depending on the fortunes of military campaigns. - **1767** -- The destruction of Ayutthaya's capital by invading the Burmese - **1851-1910**- Two legendary **Chakri monarchs, King Mongkut and his son King Chulalongkorn**, advanced significant reforms to modernize Siam. The present king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, is the ninth of this dynasty - **1932** -- The Thais adopted **constitutional monarchy**; the principal project of Thai people is to develop a **modern economy in tandem with a workable democracy;** End of the Sakdina system; Revolt which overthrew the absolute monarchy and established the constitutional monarchy - **1932-1973** -- Thailand's political system was a classic bureaucratic polity. - **Great Tragedy of October 14, 1973 --** Occurred when the citizenry rose against Thanom and his government - **1975 --** The Communist governments in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and the rise of insurgency throughout the Thai countryside made the civilian government face international and regional situation - **1976 --** Democratic civilian rule lasted only until October 1976 - **February 23, 1991 --** A military coup ousted Chatichai's government and restored military power - **Military --** Emerged as the country's dominant institution controlling pollical power in Thailand for about fifty of the past seventy-five years; From **1932 to 1973**, Thailand's political system was bureaucratic polity; Remained in power until **1988** - **Factional Constitutionalism** -- The act of habitually changing the constitution to legitimize governmental acts. - **Bureaucracy --** Small group of **non-elected officials** or also called Bureaucratic Actors or Technocrats. Supplementary Details: Appointed because of their experience and expertise over a certain field (e.g. A doctor leading the Department of Health) Makes important decisions for the country rather than elected officials - **Extra Bureaucratic Actors** - **Elected officials** that are either from House of Representatives or Senate Supplementary Details: These actors are more aware of the occurrence of future crises than the Bureaucratic actors. - **Weak parliamentary government, constitutional crises and coup d'etat --** Characterizes Thai politics over time under the military control - **Marshal Sarit Thanarat --** The army commander in chief who became prime minister in 1957, declared martial law and ruled dictatorially for six years; Economic development was the cornerstone of his rule - **Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn --** Successor of Sarit and followed his footsteps in making the military in firm control of the entirety of the government and pursuing economic development. - **General Prem Tinsulanond --** A prime minister that led the country to liberalize politically into a type of **semi** **democracy**. He included civilian technocrats in his cabinet ad relied on the freely elected legislature for support; He remained in power from 1980 to 1988 despite having two coup attempts against him - **Chatichai Choonhavan --** First elected member of Parliament (MP) to become prime minister from 1973 to 1976. His political party **Chart Thai (Thai Nation)** received the largest plurality of votes; His idea revolved around turning the Southeast Asia from a "battleground into a marketplace" - **National Peace Keeping Council (NPKC)-** Led by the Army Commander in Chief Suchinda Kraprayoon, gave itself the powers of martial law and became the arbiter of public policy; Established an interim constitution and named a civilian, Anand Panyarachun, as prime minister - **Thai Rak Thai Party (TRT) --** Formed by Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra, a telecommunications mogul and founder of Thai Rak Thai (Thais Love Thais) political party which is considered as the party of die-hard loyalists that ultimately led to another military coup, Thaksin's forced exile and intractable political crisis involving Red Shirt-Yellow Shirt division - **People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) --** Formed by the dissenters of Thaksin, Anti-Thaksin movement; Forced TRT remnants out of power - **Council on National Security (CNS)-** Formed by the coup by the armed troops sent to Thaksin's home province of Chiang Mai as well as others, inhibiting any backlash from the pro-Thaksin forces; Announced itself as the Council for Democratic Reform under the Constitutional Monarchy which was shortened later to CNS - **People's Power Party (PPP)-** A new party formed from the Thai Rak Thai party which made a new government under Samak Sundaravej with like-minded parties - **United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD)-** Thaksin "Red Shirt" supporters began to stage counterrallies around the city; Primary demand was the dissolution of the Parliament within thirty days and for the new general elections to be called ***Monarchy*** - The Thai monarch is the national symbol, the supreme patron who reigns overall and the leader of the Buddhist religion - **King Bhumibol Adulyadej --** Kingdom's longest-reigning monarch and the world's longest-reigning contemporary monarch - **Lese-majeste --** Laws that shield the king and the royal family from public criticism - **Defamation Regime --** Argued as a potent form of discursive power used by the state to shape how Thai society understands "Thainess" ***Constitutions*** - Thailand has been governed under seventeen constitutions - **People's Committee -** Led by Anand Panyarachun which included experts, academics, and the members of civil society drafted the constitution, which was perceived to be the most legitimate, inclusive and potentially sustainable democratic constitution ever promulgated in Thailand's long constitutional history - **1997 People's Constitution -** Benefited Thaksin's TRT and favored larger parties and stronger central authority - **2006 -** A coup group abrogated the constitution after stripping Thaksin of power - **2007 Constitution --** Drafted by the CNS returned Thailand to its half-appointed Senate, strengthened bureaucratic commissions and empowered the judiciary over elected officials - **2008 --** Prime Minister Samak attempted to reverse some of its provisions and sparking protests - **2012 --** Prime Minister Yingluck amends the constitution ***Military*** - Played a dominant role in Thai politics - More than half of the fifty-plus cabinets organized since 1932 can be classified as military or military-dominated governments - Replaced civilian governments with military regimes following army coups - The hierarchical nature of the military is congruent with the tendencies of the Thai political culture - Controlled Bangkok to control the entire kingdom because the city dominates every aspect of country's political and economic life - **Black May 1992 --** Thai public had lost all its tolerance for military intervention ***Bureaucracy*** - The bureaucracy has been the bedrock of stability in a political system where top leadership positions have changed unpredictably - Conservative policy role - **Technocrats --** These highly trained and educated officials are more inclined to public-regarding values over traditional values of hierarchy, personalism and security - **1997 --** Technocrats lost some of their luster when the Thai economy collapsed because they did not interpret the warning signs of the coming disaster - Bureaucratic actors lost policymaking power to extra bureaucratic groups such as the **Parliament, political parties, business groups and international financial institutions** ***Parliament and Political Parties*** - Bicameral Parliament - Thailand's national assembly is more active in engaging in public debate about important issues than other legislatures in the region - **Chart Thai (Thai Nation) Party --** The closest party of the Democrats - **Puea Thai --** Thaksin's party machine won more seats than any party in five straight elections (2001, 2005, 3006, 2007 and 2011) ***Party Jumping and Vote Buying*** - **Party Jumping --** Occurs when a veteran politician brings a network of client MPs to the new party with him - **Party Jumping and Party Factionalism** are intertwined in Thailand's political system - **Vote buying --** Giving cash to voters in return for promises of support, serving free food and drinks at village festivals or even promising cash to voters if the candidate they were told to vote for wins - **Hua Khanaen --** Means candidate canvassers that runs vote buying networks who have close ties with village leaders, teachers and respected elders - **Yellow cards --** Issued by the Election Commission in Thailand to allow candidates to gain office through subsequent by-election - **Red cards --** Issued by the Election Commission in Thailand to ban candidates from holding office for five years ***State-Society Relations and Democracy*** - **Bureaucratic polity --** Politics took place within the bureaucracy and extra bureaucratic institutions were negligible Supplementary details: External institutions such as the Parliament and political parties have little influence over the state's policy decisions. The bureaucratic polity included the military, as many of the generals who held important government posts including the Prime Minister. - **Constitutionalism --** A possible alternative anchor of state strength in the absence or loss of royal aura due to sucession ***Economy and Development*** - **1975 --** A miliary coup ushered in a new set of economic policies under the authoritarian leadership of General Sarit Thanarat - After the Vietnam war, Thailand emerged with improved economic infrastructure, roads and airports, transferred technology- a result from over a decade of US military aid, development projects and circulated cash - **1970s and 1980s --** Thailand sustained a 7 percent rate of annual economic growth a pace only acquired by developing nations - Thailand is considered as a second world developing country ***Foreign Relations*** - Thailand found itself in the free trade agreement negotiations with the United States, European Union, China and Japan - Thailand relates to US as an equal rather than as a client - Thailand strongly supported the post-Cold War initiative to create ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) - **ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) --** A move to reduce economic dependence on Japan and East Asia - **North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) --** European Union - **ASEAN--China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) -** Thailand enjoyed "early harvest" provisions of free trade with China in agriculture and other sectors by 2003, seven years before the agreement went into effect ***Key Terms*** - Structure of government: **Bicameral** - Form of government: **Parliamentary Republic** - Branches of Government: **Executive (Headed by the Prime Minister), Legislative (Parliament) and Judiciary** - Parliament is composed of **UH (House of Nationalists) and LH (House of Representatives)** - Current Prime Minister: **Min Aung Hlaing** ***Definition of Terms*** - **Burma --** The name of the country before it was translated to English - **Myanmar --** The translation of Burma in English - **Pyidawtha --** Means ideal peaceful, pleasant and prosperous society - **Rangoon Spring --** Revolution against military leaders ***Period of Events*** - **1800s to 1900s --** Myanmar was colonized by a western country, the Great Britain, and was under the British rule - **June 1948 --** The Burmese won their independence after several years of demonstration and often-violent opposition to over sixty years of British rule - **2008 --** Recent constitution - **2021 --** When a democratic party won the election, the military regime formed a coup leading to Myanmar's current form of rule ***Countries that colonized Myanmar*** - Great Britain - Japan ***Contextual Terms and Definitions*** - Myanmar felt so **insecure that they wanted to be isolated** from their neighboring countries that drove the current economy and foreign policy of Myanmar - Myanmar was trying to reclaim its territory hence the emergence of military - The **military** ruled Myanmar for so many years - Myanmar has **three constitutions** ***Why is Myanmar called Burma?*** - The Burman culture is prominent in Myanmar - Myanmar is just a translation of Burma ***Contribution of Aung San Suu Kyi*** - Aung Sun Suu Kyi is Aung Sun's daughter - Offered public speeches encouraging reform - Formed the National League for Democracy (NLD) - Placed under house arrest for having been "manipulated" by communists and foreign intelligence agencies - Won a Nobel prize - The military regime filed charges against her when they achieved a successful coup, and she is subjected to imprisonment for 30 years - The military said that Suu and her party committed fraud ***Important Institutions and Social Groups*** ***Military*** - Played the central role in the government of Burma - No other institutions were allowed to compete with the military - **Tatmadaw --** Pro-independence force under Aung San and the only credibly unified force in the country - **1958 --** U Nu asked the army to step in temporarily to administer the government - **1962 --** The army took power without hesitation - **1988 --** The military reasserted itself again by shuffling top leaders and engaging in brutal crackdown on protesters - **2007 --** The military targeted monks, students, and ordinary citizens engaged in antigovernment protests ***Aung San Suu Kyi*** - Schooled in Burma and where she spent her first fifteen years - Cheered for straightforward attacks towards the government and against Ne Win - **July 20, 1989 --** The military placed her under house arrest and cut off all communications between her followers and the outside world - **December 1991 -** While still in house arrest, she was awarded with Nobel Peace Prize for her courageous struggle against military dictatorship - Suffered three detentions for a total of fifteen years - Known affectionately by her supporters as "Daw Suu" meaning Aunt Suu or "The Lady" ***Legislature*** - Prior to 2010, Burma's legislature experienced only two periods: 1) **Multiparty Bicameral Body** during contentions of U Nu era **(1951-1962)** and 2) Rubber-stamp **Unicameral Body** during the period of Ne Win **(1974-1988)** - **2010 --** Constitutional reform revived the legislature - **2003 --** The SPDC began to engage in constitutional reform - **Pyithu Hluttaw --** House of Representatives - **Amytha Hluttaw --** House of Nationalities ***Political Parties*** - Battle of ideologies - Two major contending parties: **National League for Democracy (NLD)** and Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) which is now known as **Union and Solidarity Development Party (USDP)** - USDA is under the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) - USDA converted to become a political party to Union and Solidarity Development Party (Military supported and backed since its under SPDC) ***Monks*** - Unlike Thailand, monks in Myanmar are highly respected as teachers and religious leaders and in the past, they have toppled kings - Burma's Buddhist **"sangha" or monastic order** has been more politically active then the sangha in Thailand - The SPDC's goal is to keep the monks from rebellion, and they tried to infiltrate monkhood with its own agents - **Thabeik Hmauk --** The monks engage in this practice of overturning the offering bowls by denying opportunity to immoral leaders to make spiritual merit in 2007 - An opposition group that could threaten regime change - **2012 --** They marched in support of Thein Sein's proposal to deport the country's 800,000 Muslim Rohingya minorities to other countries a clear representation that they are not immune to sectarian politics ***Ethnic Minority Groups*** - Burma's ethnic minority groups that fought for state autonomy did not trust the government - **The Karens, Karenni, Shans, Kachins and other groups --** Ethnic minority groups that do not trust the government - The Ethnic minority groups joined the National Democratic Front (NDF) in revolt - These EMG joined NDF to reach their ambitions to become autonomous and challenging the current government to pursue a federal government - After realizing that they can't have what they want, **a civil war surged from the EMG** and these groups resorted to **illegal trades of drugs, opium and firearms** - **Union of Burma --** The people of Burma who were members of the Ethnic-linguistic communities came together to form the union in 1947 Supplementary Details: In this union, equality of communities was to be reflected in their organization as political units, each having power to govern itself, claim to a reasonable share of the nation's resources, an equal right to develop its land and society, and equal representation in the national government. - **2001 --** The NDF and the United Nationalities League for Democracy-Liberated Areas (UNLD-LA) cofounded the Ethnic Nationalities Council (ENC) to move the fights from armed insurgency to political diplomacy, the ENC's mandate has been to engage in a tripartite dialogue between Burma's EMG, SPDC and the NLD ***State Society Relations and Democracy*** - The current form of government in Myanmar is not democratic under the military regime ***Economy and Development*** - **Policy of Isolation** - **Policy of non-alignment** - Myanmar nationalizes private businesses and is not open to any economic trades outside the country - Myanmar is considered a poor country and has the lowest GDP (rank 86^th^) because of Policy of Isolation and Policy of Non-alignment ***Foreign Relations*** - Emphasis on national security - **Modified Isolationism --** Opening of trades to neighboring countries to foster economic growth. ***Neighboring countries: China, India and Thailand*** - Myanmar opened its economy, joined ASEAN and prioritized economic development over security concerns and paranoia