Stuck in the Mud Parties and Party Systems in Democratic Southeast Asia

In the eyes of many people, political parties, the hallmark of modern democratic government, have become the biggest obstacles to democratic consolidation and good governance in much of democratic Southeast Asia. The purpose of this article is to analyze some of the characteristics of the parties and party systems in this area of the world. I first review the role that parties and party systems play in developing democracies and then evaluate the party systems in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines in light of these roles. I focus on the extent to which the party systems in these countries are (or are not) institutionalization and demonstrate that all three party systems are weakly institutionalized. ____________________ In October 1973, hundreds of thousands of Thais poured onto the streets of Bangkok demanding that the military dictatorship step aside in favor of a democratic constitution and elected government. The standoff between the protestors and forces loyal to the military government lasted for two days. More than a hundred demonstrators were killed and a thousand more wounded as loyalist troops opened fire on the crowds, and for a time Bangkok teetered on the edge of anarchy and chaos. Finally, the military leadership, which had ruled Thailand for more than fourteen years, stepped aside, opening the way for a democratic constitution and free elections. While this particular democratic experiment was short-lived—military forces seized power again in 1976—the events of October 1973 signaled the end of long-lived military governments in Thailand. Elections returned in 1979, beginning a more gradual transition to democracy over the next two and a half decades. Allen Hicken studies political institutions and political economy in Southeast Asia and has worked in Thailand, the Philippines, and Cambodia. He is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan. 1 Quoted in Loreta M. Sicat, “The ‘Fair Hope of the Fatherland,’” Philippine Journal of Public Administration 17 (October 1973): 437. 2 This transition has been less than smooth as the coups in 1991 and 2006 illustrate.