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The Failure of Political Institutionalization in Cambodia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Michael Leifer
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Extract

The political system of Cambodia is often—and not inaccurately—described as one of the most stable in Asia. Such description is apt to be justified by reference to the relative absence of upheaval and disturbance which have been the fate of several new Asian states. Surface indications of stability, however, can give rise to exaggerated assumptions about the institutionalized nature of a political system, in the sense that an induced pattern of political activity has jelled to make the system a going concern. The object of this article is to examine the distinguishing features of the Cambodian political system with a view to establishing whether surface appearance reflects an inner resilience or fundamental structural weakness.

Type
Articles
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 2 , Issue 2 , March 1968 , pp. 125 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1968

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References

1Neak Cheat Niyum (The Nationalist), Phnom Penh, 25 August 1963.

2 The Commission reported that ‘Any informal suggestions that were made by the Commissioners in their individual capacities were meant to persuade the government before it took any final decisions to examine quietly and carefully the problem whether or not the royal reforms were compatible with the international obligations undertaken by Cambodia at the Geneva Conference’. Second Progress Report of the International Commission for Supervision and Control in Cambodia for the period January 1st to March 31st, 1955, London, H.M.S.O., 1955, Cmd. 9534, p. 15.Google Scholar

3 Prince Sihanouk told Malcolm MacDonald (then British Commissioner General in South-east Asia) in April 1955 that he had considered the possibility of abdication for some time ‘but that he only decided that the moment for the step had arrived when he was opposed in his wish to alter the constitution’. MacDonald, Malcolm, Angkor, London, 1958, p. 147.Google Scholar

4 Cmd. 9761, p. 17.

5 Quoted in Kambuja, Phnom Penh, December 1966, p. 80.

6B.B.C. Summary of World Broadcasts, Part III, The Far East, 7 November 1966, FE/2310/13/12. (Author's italics.)

7B.B.C. Summary of World Broadcasts, 10 November 1966, FE/2313/13/16.

8 See Michael Leifer, ‘The Cambodian Elections’, Asian Survey, September 1962.

9 In October 1967 Prince Sihanouk warned Cambodia's so-called number one friend, China, against seeking to inspire communist rebellions and subversion in Cambodia. See The Times, London, 6 10 1967.Google Scholar