THE COMPARATIVE POLITICS

OF SOUTHEAST ASIA
ASDP – June 22, 2011, East-West Center, Honolulu HI
Today
 Review of what is Southeast Asia

 States in Early Southeast Asia

 Political Systems in Post-War Southeast Asia

 International Relations and Regional Instituitions

Physical Geography
 Forest and waterways.

 Tropical region, and this prevented land-based

migration and invasion.

 Also the forest provides an abundance of resources

for daily like, building, eating, and so on.
Common Diet
 Rice: Likely native to the region. Other staples
including taro and other starches.

 Fish: Eating fish but also cooking with fish sauce and
using fish and shrimp pastes in cooking

 Palm: Abundant and used as a substitute for sugar

and also to extract oil.
Waterways
 waterways, temperate
winds make region
accessible by sea.

 Migration and trade occur

primarily by sea and by
major river ways and
deltas.
What is Southeast Asia?

A physical region.
Chinese Influence
 People from southern coast of China migrated to
Southeast Asia in early times.

 Married and were essentially absorbed into

population.

 Did not consider themselves “Chinese.”

“Sini-fication”

 Resurgence of Chinese identity in SE Asia

Rulers found it convenient to separate
Chinese from indigenous population.
Mass migration after the Taiping rebellion.
The rise of Chinese nationalism in China itself
(early 20th century).
Role of Women in SE Asia
 Bilateral kinship structure.
 Reverse of conventional dowry.
 Men often live with woman’s family.
 Women may have autonomous trade in marketing.
 Step from trade to diplomacy is small.

 External forces (Confucianism, Christianity, Islam,

chipped away at this).
Women Leaders in Southeast Asia
What is Southeast Asia?

It is a human region.
Where does Southeast Asia Come From?

 The term emerges only in the context of

World War II.

 It becomes a theater of war after the

Japanese invasion of the region.

 Distinct from South Asia (India) and East Asia

(China, Japan, Korea)
Why so late?

 It was heterogeneous in terms of culture.

 It was remote in terms of distance.
 It was imperially segmented.
Heterogeneity
 Major religions come through Southeast Asia
including Hindu, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam.

 Hundreds of languages.

 Dozens of ethnic groups, hundreds of sub-ethnic

groups.
Remote
 Japan

 Unites many
in the region.

 Brings SE Asia
to forefront.

 Unites the
Imperialists.
The Cold War
 There were major communist rebellions in almost
every single country in Southeast Asia.

 And whereas India and China were largely “lost” and

in any case too big to intervene, Southeast Asia was
still contestable.
ASEAN
 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
established in 1967.

 Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,

Singapore, and Thailand (later Vietnam, Lao PDR,
Myanmar, Cambodia).

 Promote regional economic growth, peace and

security, and mutual assistance.
What is Southeast Asia?

It is a political region.
STATE FORMATION
What is the state?
“Administrative body that
has a monopoly over the
legitimate use of force over
a given territory.”
-Max Weber
 States

 Regimes

 Governments
Pre-Colonial State Formation
 Reid, Anthony. 1988.
Southeast Asia in the
Age of Commerce,
1450-1680. The Land
Below the Winds. Yale
University Press.

 Maritime trade 
absolutist regimes.
Pre-Colonial State Formation

 Maritime trade in the region from the 14th century

to the 17th century explains the consolidation of
absolutist regimes during this period.

 Trade brought expanded wealth and dissemination

of firearms which enabled states to be more
centralized, coercive and bureaucratic.

 Colonialism was a consequence of the vibrant trade

and economy in the region and not the reverse.
 Pre-Colonial State Formation
 Lieberman, Victor. 2003. Strange
Parallels: Integration on the
Mainland: Southeast Asia in
Global Context, c.800-1830.
Cambridge University Press.

 Not only Maritime.

 Comparisons to Eurasia.
Pre-Colonial State Formation

 Maritime economic and military inputs.

 Domestic agricultural and commercial

expansion.

 Locally-generated movements of
religious/moral reform.
State Formation
 Scott, Professor James C.
2009. The Art of Not Being
Governed: An Anarchist
History of Upland Southeast
Asia. Yale University Press.

 Explores why some places

and some peoples did not
embrace states.
State Formation

 Larger debates that political scientists and

political sociologists have made about the
rise of states and state formation.

 Helps to historicize Southeast Asian politics

and recognize agency of Southeast Asian
actors.
State Formation in the Colonial Era
 Colonial era is long and complex and difficult to
summarize in terms of state formation.

 But it is an important area of study because many

scholars argue that the colonial era helped to
define states and how they run in the post-colonial
era.
 Direct vs. Indirect Rule

Direct rule: Rule

through colonial
administrators.

Indirect rule: Rule

through ‘native’
administrators.
Furnivall, J. S. 1956. Colonial Policy and Practice a
Comparative Study of Burma and Netherlands
India. New York: New York University Press.
Furnivall
 Direct rule tends to wipe out the “constraint of
custom” and reduces societies to the “lowest common
denominator of economic gain and exploitation.

 Indirect rules works better because it maintains

some degree of autonomy and expression of the
“social will.”
Furnivall

Plural society: “a medley of peoples - European,

Chinese, Indian and native, who do mix but do
not combine...with different sections of the
community living side by side, but separately,
within the same political unit.”
 State Formation in Indonesia

Sutherland, Heather.
1979. The making
of a bureaucratic
elite : the colonial
transformation of
the Javanese
priyayi

The Priyayi straddle

Dutch and Javese
realms.
State Formation in Indonesia
 Empowered priyayi become a highly corrupt class
of administrators in the colony.

 Divisions between upper and less priyayi.

 Dutch policies at centralization, decentralization,

and then recentralization.
Thai State Formation
Thai State Formation
 The Philippines

 Philippines as a
weak state.

 Pre-colonial?

 Colonial?
 Spanish?

 American?
Why pre-colonial and colonial era?
 Colonial legacies may persist.

 Problems and challenges may come from this era.

 It contextualizes and historicizes the region’s

contemporary politics.

 “Continuity and Change”

 Japan

 Unites many
in the region.

 Brings SE Asia
to forefront.

 Unites the
Imperialists.
Independence in Southeast Asia
 Thailand: 1238?
 Philippines: 1946
 Burma: 1948
 Indonesia: 1950
 Indochina: 1954
 Malaya: 1957
 Singapore: 1965
 Brunei: 1984
 East Timor: 1999
POLITICAL SYSTEMS IN SOUTHEAST
ASIA

Professor Ehito Kimura

Polisci 307b
September 30, 2008
 GDP per capita
Country Area (km2) Population(2009) Density (/km2) GDP USD (2009) Capital
(2009)

Brunei 5,765 428,000 70 10,405,000,000 $25,386 Bandar Seri Begawan

Burma 676,578 50,020,000 74 34,262,000,000 $571 Naypyidaw

Cambodia 181,035 14,805,000 82 10,871,000,000 $768 Phnom Penh

East Timor 14,874 1,134,000 76 590,000,000 $542 Dili

Indonesia 1,904,569 240,271,522 126 539,377,000,000 $2,329 Jakarta

Laos 236,800 6,320,000 27 5,598,000,000 $886 Vientiane

Malaysia 329,847 28,318,000 83 192,955,000,000 $8,100 Kuala Lumpur

Philippines 300,000 91,983,000 307 160,991,000,000 $1,745 Manila

Singapore 710.2 5,076,700 7,023 182,231,000,000 $36,379 Singapore

Thailand 513,120 67,764,000 132 312,605,000,000 $4,643 Bangkok

Vietnam 331,210 88,069,000 265 93,164,000,000 $1,068 Hanoi

Philippines
 Spanish/American colonialism.
 1946-Independence from US.
 1965-Election of Marcos
 1972-Martial law
 1983-Benigno Aquino assassinated.
 1986-People power revolution.
 Cory Aquino becomes president.
Some sources
 Wurfel, David. 1991. Filipino politics: Development
and decay. Cornell Univ Press.
 Anderson, Benedict. 1988. “Cacique Democracy in
the Philippines: Origins and Dreams.” New Left
Review I (160) (June): 3–33.
 Hutchcroft, P. D, and J. Rocamora. 2003. “Strong
demands and weak institutions: The origins and
evolution of the democratic deficit in the
Philippines.” Journal of East Asian Studies 3: 259–
292.
Indonesia
 Dutch colonialism.
 1945-1950-Indonesian revolution.
 1950-Independence.
 1957-‘Guided democracy’.
 1965-Coup, counter coup?
 “New Order” authoritarian rule by Suharto.
 1997-Asian Financial Crisis.
 1998-Fall of Suharto.
Some sources
 Crouch, Harold. 2010. Political reform in Indonesia
after Soeharto. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing.
 Hadiz, V. R. 2004. “Decentralization and
democracy in Indonesia: a critique of neo-
institutionalist perspectives.” Development and
Change 35 (4): 697–718.
 Slater, Dan. 2004. “Indonesia’s Accountability Trap:
Party Cartels and Presidential Power After
Democratic Transition.” Indonesia (78) (October):
61-92.
Timor L’este
 1972-Portuguese colony.
 1975-Declares independence but is invaded and
occupied by Indonesia.
 1991-Santa Cruz Massacre
 1996-Ramos Horta and Bishop Belo receive Nobel
Peace Prize.
 1998-After fall of Suharto, President Habibie
allows referendum.
 1999-Independence.
Some sources
 Taylor, John G. c1991. Indonesia’s forgotten war the
hidden history of East Timor. London, Atlantic Highlands,
N.J., USA, Leichhardt, NSW, Australia: Zed Books. Pluto
Press Australia.
 Kammen, Douglas. 2001. The Trouble With Normal: The
Indonesian Military, Paramilitaries, and the Final
Solution to East Timor. In , ed. Benedict Anderson.
Ithaca: Southeast Asia Program Publications.
 Robinson, G. 2009. “ If you leave us here, we will die”:
how genocide was stopped in East Timor. Princeton Univ
Pr.
Burma (Myanmar)
 Colonized by the British.
 1947-Aung San and six members of interim
government are assassinated.
 1948-Burma becomes independent state.
 1962-Military coup by Ne Win.
 1988 - Demonstrations and major crackdown.
 1990-NLD wins elections, results ignored.
 1991-Suu Kyii wins Nobel Peace Prize.
 Present: SPDC still retains power.
Some Sources
 Taylor, R. 1987. The State in Burma. University of
Hawaii Press.

 Callahan, M. P. 2004. Making Enemies: war and

state building in Burma. NUS Press.
Malaysia
 British colonial rule.
 1948-British continue rule.
 1957-British allow independence.
 1963-Decolonization of Sabah,
Sarawak, and Singapore.
 1965-Singapore withdraws.
 1969-Race riot.
 1971-National Economic Policy (NEP)
 1981-Mahathir becomes PM.
Some sources
 Andaya, Barbara Watson, and Leonard Y Andaya.
2001. A History of Malaysia. Honolulu: University of
Hawai`i Press.

 Case, W. 1993. “Semi-democracy in Malaysia:

withstanding the pressures for regime change.”
Pacific Affairs 66 (2): 183–205.
 Singapore

 British Colonial Rule.

 1959-Lee Kuan Yew becomes PM.
 1963-Enters federation with Malaysia.
 1965-Breaks off from Malaysia and
becomes a republic.
 1990-Yew steps down, Goh Chock Toh
new PM.
 2004-Lee Hsien Loong (eldest son on
Lee Kuan Yew) becomes PM.
Some sources
 Means, Gordon Paul. 1996. “Soft Authoritarianism
in Malaysia and Singapore.” Journal of Democracy
7 (4): 103-117.

 Lingle, C. 1996. Singapore’s authoritarian capitalism:

Asian values, free market illusions, and political
dependency. Edicions Sirocco (Barcelona and
Fairfax, VA).
Brunei Darrussalam
 1888-Brunei becomes British protectorate.
 1929-Oil Extraction begins.
 1959-First written constitution, makes Islam state
religion, British responsible for defense and foreign
affairs.
 1963-Brunei opts to remain a British dependency
rather than join Malaysia.
 1984-Brunei becomes independent nation.
 Thailand

 1782-Beginning of Chakri Dynasty.

 1932-Constitutional Monarchy.
 1947-Military coup.
 1991-Anand Panyarachun becomes PM.
 1997-Financial Crisis
 2001-Thaksin Shinawatra wins PM.
 2006-Military coup.
 2008-now: Red-shirt yellow shirts.
Sources
 Baker, Chris Phongpaichit Pasuk. 2005. A History of
Thailand. Port Melbourne, Vic., Australia ; New York:
Cambridge University Press.
 Riggs, F. W. 1966. Thailand: The modernization of a
bureaucratic polity. East-West Center Press.
 Anderson, Benedict. 1990. “Murder and Progress in
Modern Siam.” New Left Review I (June): 33–48.
 Winachakul, Thongchai. 1997. Siam Mapped: A
History of the Geo-Body of a Nation. University of
Hawaii Press.
 Vietnam

 French colonial rule.

 1954: First Indo-china war ends with fall of Dien
Bien Phu.
 1954-1975: Second Indo-china war
 1968-Tet offensive.
 1973: Cease fire and US pull out.
 1975: North invades South
 1976: Socialist Republic or Vietnam proclaimed.
Sources

 Popkin, Samuel L. c1979. The rational peasant the

political economy of rural society in Vietnam.
Berkeley: University of California Press.

 Kerkvliet, Benedict J. 2005. The power of everyday

politics: How Vietnamese peasants transformed
national policy. Cornell Univ Press.
 Cambodia

 French colonial rule.

 1953-Independence.
 1965-Breaks of relations with US, allies with
N. Vietnam.
 1975-Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot take power.
Killing fields.
 1979-Vietnam invades and deposes Khmer
Rouge.
 1985-Hun Sen becomes PM.
 1991-Paris Peace Accords.
Sources
 Chandler, D. P. 1992. A history of Cambodia.
Westview Press Boulder, CO.

 Kiernan, B. 2002. The Pol Pot regime: race, power,

and genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge,
1975-79. Yale Univ Pr.
 Laos

 French colonial rule.

 1954-Independence to Constitutional
Monarchy.

 1960s-Theatre for war during Indo-China

wars.

 1975-Monarchy is deposed and replaced by

socialist government in 1975 (Pathet Lao).
 The Landscape of Southeast Asian Politics

42 Timor-Leste 7.22 Flawed dem. Parliamentary Republic

57 Thailand 6.55 Flawed dem. Const. monarchy, Parliamentary
60 Indonesia 6.53 Flawed dem. Presidential system, Republic
71 Malaysia 6.19 Flawed dem. Const. monarchy, Parliamentary
74 Philippines 6.12 Flawed dem. Presidential, Constitutional Republic
82 Singapore 5.89 Hybrid regime Parliamentary Republic
100 Cambodia 4.87 Hybrid regime Const. monarchy, Parliamentary
140 Vietnam 2.94 Authoritarian Socialist republic, single-party communist
156 Laos 2.10 Authoritarian Socialist republic, single-party communist
163 Myanmar 1.77 Authoritarian Military junta (de facto military dictatorship)
??? Brunei ? ? Sultanate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index
Questions and Debates
 Some scholars lament the lack of democracy in
Southeast Asia.

 Some scholars try to understand the variation in

political systems.

 Some scholars try to understand why democracy is

spreading. What stands in its path?
Democracy
 Participation

 Competition.

 Protection of civil and political rights.

Authoritarianism
 One or a small group of individuals exercise power
over the state.

 Government is not constitutionally responsible to the

public

 Public has little or no role in selecting leaders.

 Severe limits on individual freedoms.

Kinds of Authoritarianism
 Personal Rule

 Military Rule

 One-Party Rule

 Theocracy

 Illiberal Regimes
Sources of Democracy and
Authoritarianism in SE Asia
 Cultural explanations

 Economic explanations
Cultural Explanation for Democracy

 ‘Western Culture’ is somehow well suited for

democracy.

 Because of its individualism and non-hierarchical

social structure.

 A ‘Spirit of Capitalism.’
Asian Values
 Loyalty to the family.

 Community over individual.

 Development and security over individual rights.

 Consensus over majority rule.

 Importance of social harmony.

The Asian Values Debate
 Articulated by Asia’s leaders.

 West vs. East

 Western ‘decay’ vs. Asian growth.

 Human rights.
Problems with Asian Values
 Plenty of Asian dissenters.

 More and more Asian democracies.

 Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia

 Thompson, Mark. 2001. “Whatever Happened to

‘Asian Values’?” Journal of Democracy 12 (4)
(October 1): 154-165.
Cultural Diversity and Authoritarianism

 Asian values suggests that all Asians have something

in common.

 But Southeast Asia is diverse in culture.

 Authoritarianism arises because of this diversity.

Economic Explanations for
Authoritarianism
 There is a relationship between economic growth
and democracy/authoritarianism.

 Rich countries tend to be more democratic.

 WHY?

 Recall that many of the arguments against

democracy occurred during economic growth…
Middle Class and Democracy
 Richer countries have capitalist middle class.

 Middle class is more educated, able to articulate,

and interested in political rights.

 “No Middle Class, No Democracy.”

Middle Class and Democracy
 Moore, Barrington. 1966. Social origins of
dictatorship and democracy lord and peasant in the
making of the modern world. Boston: Beacon Press.

 Sidel, John. 2008. “Social Origins of Dictatorship

and Democracy: Colonial State and Chinese
Immigrant in the Making of Modern Southeast Asia.”
Journal of Comparative Politics.
Social Origins 2008
 Rise of a middle class in itself does not guarantee
democracy. It is determined by the “degree of
vigor and independence of a country's
bourgeoisie.”

 No middle class: Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam

 Dependent middle class: Singapore, Brunei.
 Assimilated middle class: Thailand, Philippines
 “Pariah” middle class: Malaysia, Indonesia
Middle Class + and Democracy
 Maybe the middle class are “contingent democrats.”

 In other words, they will join when it suits them and

they will ally with other sectors such as the working
class.

 How do we understand the Philippines? Or how do

we understand Singapore?
“Supply Side” arguments
 Some argue that it is about the elites.

 Regimes change when there is elite disunity.

 Regimes are stable when there is elite unity.

 Case, William. 2002. Politics in Southeast Asia:

Democracy or Less. Routledge Press.
Elite Forces
Elite Cohesion Elite Disunity

Quiescent Stable Unstable

Constituents Authoritarianism Authoritarianism
(Indonesia, (Malaysia)
Singapore)
Participatory Stable Democracy Unstable
Society (Philippines) Democracy
(Thailand)
Democracies
 Democracy
 Philippines (low-quality), Thailand (unconsolidated)
 Semi Democracy
 Singapore, Malaysia
 Pseudo Democracy
 Indonesia

 Hard Authoritarian
 Burma?
The Problem with General Arguments

 Tendency to generalize and hard to explain

exceptions.

 Tendency towards determinism, backwards

explanation. Hard to anticipate change.

 Importance of historical context, key events, and

individual leaders.
INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS
Japanese in Invasion

 Politically unites the

region and attempts
to impose Japanese
culture.
 Brings Southeast Asia
to the forefront of
addressing the global
threat Japan’s rise.
 Brings the imperial
powers together in
their quest to retake
the former territories.
The Cold War
 Vietnam War, the bombing of Cambodia and Laos.

 War between Cambodia and Vietnam.

 Invasion of East Timor.

 Conflict between Indonesia and Malaysia.

SEATO
 September of 1954, the United States, France, Great
Britain, New Zealand, Australia, the Philippines,
Thailand and Pakistan formed the Southeast Asia
Treaty Organization, or SEATO.

 Other countries in the region express less interest.

 Disbanded after the Vietnam War in 1977.

Regional and International Relations

 China and the South China Sea.

 Shared concerns about terrorism.

 International trade (AFTA).

ASEAN
 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
established in 1967.

 Founding members: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines,

Singapore, and Thailand (later Vietnam, Lao PDR,
Myanmar, Cambodia).

 Promote regional economic growth, peace and

security, and mutual assistance.
ASEAN Regional FORUM (ARF)
 a formal, official, multilateral dialogue in Asia Pacific
region.

 of 27 participants

 foster dialogue and consultation, and promote

confidence-building and preventive diplomacy in the
region.
ASEAN Regional FORUM (ARF)

all the ASEAN members, Australia, Bangladesh,

Canada, the People's Republic of China, the European
Union, India, Japan, North Korea, South Korea,
Mongolia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea,
Russia, East Timor, United States and Sri Lanka.
Asia Pacific Economic cooperation
 Established in 1989 by the Australian PM.

 Opposed by a variety of groups who wanted a more

“Asian” grouping.

 Elevated in 1993 by President Clinton at the Blake

Island Seattle Summit.
ASEAN
Realism a.ka. Realpolitik
 A school of thought that explains international
relations in terms of power.

 The foundational principle of realism is dominance.

 Realism is contrasted with Idealism, a school of

thought that considers other factors than just raw
power.
ASEAN AS….
 A collective way to counter China or other threats.

 A tool of powerful states.

 Largely symbolic and actually has very little power to

influence the international system.
Principles of Liberal IR Theory
 Liberal IR is based on the idea of reciprocity.

 It argues that states often cooperate with each

other, contrary to the predictions of realism.
ASEAN as the Asian EU
 Interests between states can overlap.

 Power is not zero-sum, it is positive sum.

 Regional institutions help promote cooperation.

Identity and
International Relations
 States don’t behave merely on material
interests alone.

 There are also social rationale for

behavior.
AN “ASIA-PACIFIC WAY”
 Asean is more than just about reciprocal
cooperation.

 There is a process of identity building going-

on.

 There is something called an ASEAN or an

Asia-Pacific way.
Four ideas
 open regionalism

 cooperative security

 soft regionalism

 flexible consensus
What about non-state regionalism?
 ASEAN, ARF, APEC, etc. are all regional institutions
that are run by and for the benefit of states.

 Can we think of other ways in which to think about

regionalism in Southeast Asia?

 What about regional ties based on faith and “secret

regionalism”
Today
 Review of what is Southeast Asia

 States in Early Southeast Asia

 Political Systems in Post-War Southeast Asia

 International Relations and Regional Instituitions

Other Themes
 Political Economy of Development

 Political Ecology

 Religion and Politics

 Ethnic Politics and Conflict