Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T05:24:13.614Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late to the Party: The Development of Partisanship in Thailand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2013

Allen Hicken
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article investigates the emergence of new partisan identities in Thailand. Using data from Thailand's last several elections I trace the emergence of partisanship over the last 15 years, particularly in the north and northeast. The change in the nature of partisanship has helped turn long-simmering tensions into an increasingly intractable political conflict. This mass partisan alignment has upset the equilibrium of Thai politics, transforming what was once an inefficient but modest-stakes game of political horse-trading into a zero sum game with extremely high stakes.

Keywords

political partyThailandpartisanshipparty identitypolarization
Type
Articles
Information
TRaNS: Trans-Regional and -National Studies of Southeast Asia , Volume 1 , Special Issue 2: Redefining and Recontextualising Politics in Southeast Asia , July 2013 , pp. 199 - 213
Copyright
Copyright © Institute of East Asian Studies, Sogang University 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Askew, Marc. 2008. Performing Political Identity: The Democrat Party in Southern Thailand. Chang Mai: Silkworm Books.Google Scholar
Hicken, Allen. 2006. Party fabrication: constitutional reform and the rise of Thai Rak Thai. Journal of East Asian Studies 6(3), 381–408.Google Scholar
Hicken, Allen. 2007. How effective are institutional reforms? In Schaffer, Frederic C. (ed.), Elections for Sale: The Causes, Consequences, and Reform of Vote Buying, pp. 145–159. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers.Google Scholar
Hicken, Allen. 2009. Building Party Systems in Developing Democracies. New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hicken, Allen and Selway, Joel Sawat. 2012. Forcing the Genie Back in the Bottle: Sociological Change, Institutional Reform, and Health Policy in Thailand. Journal of East Asian Studies 21(1), 57–88.Google Scholar
Laakso, M and Taagepera, R. 1979. Effective Number of Parties: A Measure with Application to West Europe. Comparative Political Studies 12(1), 3–27.Google Scholar
Ockey, James. 2005. Variations on a theme: societal cleavages and party orientations through multiple transitions in Thailand. Party Politics 11, 728–747.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Painter, Martin. 2006. Thaksinocracy or managerialization? Reforming the Thai bureaucracy. Journal of Contemporary Asia 34(2), 143–162.Google Scholar
Phongpaichit, Pasuk and Baker, Chris. 2008. The mask-play election: generals, politicians, and voters at Thailand's 2007 poll. Paper presented at “Contemporary Thailand Workshop”, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 11–12 November 2008.Google Scholar
Phongpaichit, Pasuk and Baker, Chris. 2010. Thaksin (second edition). Seattle: University of Washington Press.Google Scholar
Selway, Joel. 2007. The Political Economy of Healthcare in Thailand. Bangkok: The Institute of Security and International Studies, Chulalongkorn University.Google Scholar
Shim, Jane. n.d. Research on the Thai Party System. 2009–2010. University of Michigan.Google Scholar
Aim, Sinpeng and Kuhonta, Erik. 2012. From the street to the ballot box: the July 2011 elections and the rise of social movements in Thailand. Contemporary Southeast Asia 34(3), 389–415.Google Scholar
Sombat, Chantornvong. 1993. Luaktang wikrit: Panha lae thang ok [Thai Elections in Crisis: Problems and Solutions]. Bangkok: Kobfai.Google Scholar
Somchai, Phatharathananunth. 2008. The Thai Rak Thai Party and elections in North-eastern Thailand. Journal of Contemporary Asia 38(1), 106–123.Google Scholar
Kanchanakhundi, Suphalak. 2006. Khabuan Kanbrachachon King Samretruub kap Kandawsuu phua Prachatipatai baab Pingping. Fah Diaw Kan 4(2), 166–186.Google Scholar
Surin, Maisrikrod and McCargo, Duncan. 1997. Electoral politics: commercialisation and cexclusion. In Hewison, Kevin (ed.), Political Change in Thailand: Democracy and Participation, pp. 132–148 . London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ungpakorn, Giles Ji. 2007. A Coup for the Rich: Thailand's Political Crisis. Bangkok: Workers Democracy Publishing Google Scholar