본문 바로가기
  • Home
Basic Search

The Dynamics of Authoritarian-led Democratization and Democratic Backsliding: Institutional Strength of Military Rule in Myanmar

  • Asia Review
  • Abbr : SNUACAR
  • 2021, 11(2), pp.217~246
  • Publisher : 아시아연구소
  • Research Area : Social Science > Social Science in general
  • Received : February 15, 2021
  • Accepted : July 30, 2021
  • Published : August 31, 2021

Kihong Mun 1

1시드니 대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

The research explores the contemporary democratization and current democratic backsliding in Myanmar. Since the establishment of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in 2015, the democratization process has swung back and forth. The paper explains the institutional strength of the outgoing military regime in order to understand the fluctuation of political development and the recent military coup in Myanmar. The research assumes that democratization in Myanmar has been led by a military regime, and suggests that the coup was successful because the military regime exerted influence using the political institutions under the post-authoritarian state. The 2008 Constitution forms the basis for military-led democratization, and guarantees the presence of soldiers in the legislature and the exercise of administrative authority. The supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces is not the President. Furthermore, three major Ministers, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Ministry of Border, are appointed by the commander-in-chief of the Tatmadaw. The Constitution serves as the reference for the recent military coup. On the day of the coup, the Tatmadaw declared a state of emergency and took power based on Article 417 and Article 418 of the Constitution. The strength of the military regime has presented ambiguity in the direction of the political regime transition. By studying the Constitution-making from 1993 to 2008, the paper suggests that the military regime in Myanmar was democratized when it was safe during the post-authoritarian state. Based on the 2008 constitution, the general elections resulted in a relatively successful transition to a civilian government. However, as the Constitution also specifies, the Tatmadaw possesses significant prerogatives over civilian rule, and poses continuous threats to consolidate a democratized process.

Statistics

  • 610 Viewed
  • 340 Downloaded

Tools

Issue List

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.

Basic Search Advanced Search