Bulletin n. 1/2008
May 2008
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Bünte Marco
    Dezentralisierung und Demokratie in Südostasien
    in Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft , 18. Jahrgang (2008), Heft 1 ,  2008 ,  25-50
    Decentralization and Democracy in Southeast Asia This article analyzes the decentralization of state power in the “defective democracies” of Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. These countries have undergone democratization and different degrees of decentralization in recent years, but have followed different trajectories. While the Philippines and Indonesia followed a big bang decentralization, Thailand has opted to decentralize in incremental stages. It is argued that democratization only succeeds if the main regime coalition supports the initiation and implementation of the process. In case of a lack of experience with decentralization and resistance on the part of the authoritarian regime coalition chances are slim that democratic decentralization will succeed. Although the rise of electoral democracy has enhanced political participation, political contestation is limited to old regime force which still occupy the political space at the local level.
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