Political Mistrust in Southeast Asia

2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-100
Author(s):  
William Case

AbstractPolitics in Southeast Asia are often characterised by power abuses and corrupt practices, ramshackle political institutions, economic shocks, social inequities, and a steady erosion of cultural deference. In these conditions, mass-level mistrust of political leaders and institutions might be expected to surge. However, patterns of mistrust turn out to be more complex. Where political leaders are abusive and corrupt, while doing little to ease the declining fortunes of social forces, mistrust does indeed grow pervasive, even threatening political stability. But in other cases, political leaders, even though abusive, have ably mitigated mistrust, shifting mass-level grievances onto rival elites or social segments, deploying populist programs, or mobilising nationalist resentments, thereby perpetuating their standings. Analysis focuses on a number of contemporary leaderships in Southeast Asia that have produced variable amounts of mass-level mistrust, including those of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

1970 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffery M. Paige

Although the Department of State continues to attribute the war in Vietnam to “aggression from the North,” there has always been a suspicion among more enlightened public officials and most academic critics of the war that economic discontent rooted in the inequitable tenure arrangements of the Vietnamese countryside might have some connection with the vigorous opposition of the Viet Cong to numerous Saigon governments. Thus it is surprising to learn that, on the contrary, support for the Saigon regime is most pronounced in provinces in which few peasants farm their own land, large estates were formerly owned by French or Vietnamese landlords, tenancy is widespread, and the distribution of land is unequal. This finding is particularly striking since it is contrary to data from the rest of Southeast Asia. In Burma, for example dacoity and other forms of social disorder were most frequent in the deltaic area of lower Burma, a region of extensive tenancy, unstable tenure, massive agricultural debt, and large-scale absentee ownership by Indian financial houses. In Thailand most social tension is concentrated in the northeast, a region of poor soil and shifting subsistence agriculture, and in the Menam delta immediately adjacent to Bangkok, where absentee holdings are farmed by tenants. Most commercial agricultural land in Thailand is cultivated by owner-proprietors and it is this fact that explains much of the country's political stability. In the Philippines the Hukbalahap movement was concentrated in central Luzon, again a region of extensive tenancy.


1956 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 335-337

The second meeting of the Council of the Southeast Asian Defense Treaty Organization (SEATO) was held in Karachi, Pakistan from March 6 through 8, 1956, under the chairmanship of Hamidul Haq Chowdhury, Foreign Minister of Pakistan. The meeting was attended by the foreign ministers of the eight member states: Australia, France, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand, the United Kingdom and United States. In the communique issued at the close of the session, the Council maintained that SEATO had made a notable contribution to the maintenance of peace in southeast Asia and the southwest Pacific. Council members affirmed that their countries would never commit aggression and that their cooperation under SEATO was directed toward mutual defense and the maintenance of peace. In regard to political developments in southeast Asia, the Council noted with satisfaction reports of the steps being taken toward establishing full self-government and independence for Malaya within the United Kingdom, and the further progress in the development of free political institutions in the region, particularly in regard to Cambodia, Laos and the Republic of Vietnam which, although not members of SEATO, were under its protection.


Author(s):  
Alizaman D. Gamon ◽  
Mariam Saidona Tagoranao

This study discusses the penetration of Islam in the Philippines, particularly the third wave of its expansion, which was brought by Sufi missionaries. It reinstates the historical relevance of Sufi ideas and approaches due to its contemporary relevance to the concept of social co-existence. The rational, intellectual and philosophical dimension of Islam is manifested in the cultural and traditional life of Muslim communities. The study also analyzes the impact of Muslim struggle for the development of Islamic institutions in the context of the secular state. The ongoing, unsettled debate between Islamic and government approaches to peace and development in Mindanao and Sulu continues unabated. Over the years, reforms were introduced, but in their midst, evidence of government biases and prejudices with regards to Islamic institutions have surfaced. Muslim leaders and intellectuals responded in the context of historical rights and freedom, but those views were often questioned as they are presumed to be incompatible with the national agenda for national unity. It was very recently that this incompatibility was readdressed giving support to having lasting peace and justice in Mindanao. The study argues that there have been substantial state-sponsored reforms which may contribute to the gradual advancement of Muslim communities. Though the path for the passage of Muslim concerns within the given condition is fragile and open to challenges, the study recognizes the prominence of inter-civilizational dialogue, from which the universal values of humanity will be embraced by both Muslim and non-Muslim policy makers. In addition, Muslim and non-Muslim communities in the Philippines need to embrace the universal principle of humanity and coexistence due to its relevance to the political stability and economic growth in the country.  Keywords: Muslims in the Philippines, Islamic institutions, Islamization, Muslim intellectuals, Reform. Abstrak Kajian ini mengkaji tentang kemasukan Islam, terutamanya gelombang ketiga perkembangannya, yang dibawa oleh para pendakwah sufi. Kajian itu mengembalikan semula sejarah penting tentang idea-idea dan pendekatan Sufi yang boleh digunapakai pada masa kini untuk mewujudkan keharmonian sosial di kalangan rakyat pelbagai agama. Pemahaman tentang Islam mempunyai pengaruh yang jelas terhadap kebudayaan dan tradisi Islam. Kajian ini juga menganalisis kesan perjuangan Muslim untuk pembangunan institusi Islam dalam konteks sebuah negara sekular. Perbahasan yang berterusan yang tidak menemukan penyelesaian antara pendekatan Islam dan pendekatan kerajaan untuk perdamaian serta pembangunan di Mindanao dan Sulu terus berlanjutan. Walaupun  bertahun-tahun pembaharuan telah dilakukan, namun terdapat bukti penolakan dan prasangka buruk kerajaan terhadap institusi Islam. Para pemimpin dan intelektual Muslim bertindak berdasarkan pada fakta sejarah dan hak kebebasan bersuara, namun pandangan mereka sering dipertikaikan kerana mereka dianggap tidak seiring dengan agenda dan perpaduan nasional. Baru-baru ini ketidakserasian ini mulai disuarakan semula untuk mendapat sokongan terhadap keamanan dan keadilan yang berterusan di Mindanao. Kajian ini mendapati bahawa terdapat pembaharuan yang dilakukan oleh pihak kerajaan yang boleh menyumbang ke arah  kemajuan masyarakat Islam secara beransur-ansur. Walaupun pendekatan bagi memenuhi hasrat orang Islam masih dalam keadaan yang rapuh dan penuh cabaran, namun kajian ini mengusulkan peripentingnya dialog antara peradaban dimana nilai-nilai universal manusia akan diperoleh dan dipegang oleh kedua-kedua pihak pembuat dasar iaitu  Islam dan bukan Islam. Di samping itu, umat Islam dan bukan Islam di Filipina perlu mengkaji dan mencontohi model keharmonian sosial Malaysia dan Singapura kerana kaitannya dengan kestabilan politik dan pertumbuhan ekonomi. Kata Kunci: Muslim di Filipina, institusi Islam, Islamisasi, intelektual Islam, Pembaharuan.


2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-223
Author(s):  
S.Yu. Storozhenko

Seven new species of the genus Zhengitettix Liang, 1994 are described: Z. hosticus sp. nov., Z. mucronatus sp. nov. and Z. spinulentus sp. nov. from Vietnam; Z. albitarsus sp. nov. and Z. extraneus sp. nov. from Thailand; Z. palawanensis sp. nov. and Z. taytayensis sp. nov. from the Philippines. Two species, Z. curvispinus Liang, Jiang et Liu, 2007 and Z. obliquespicula Zheng et Jiang, 2005 are firstly recorded from Vietnam. An annotated check-list and key to species of the genus Zhengitettix are given. Position of Zhengitettix within the family Tetrigidae is briefly discussed.


1968 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-269
Author(s):  
André Vachet

Division of power and social integrationExplanation of some of the recent challenges to western democracy may be found in a re-examination of Montesquieu's thought. Here we find the theory of the separation of power to be far more complex than is implied in the simple divisions of legislature, executive, and judiciary. For Montesquieu, the separation of power is more a social division than a political or juridical one. He contemplated returning the organs of political power to various social forces, e.g. monarchy, aristocracy, and bourgeoisie, and that then the self-assertion of forces would be restrained by the resistance of other social groups. The realization of its goals would require every important social group to integrate itself both to society and to the state and to seek its goals through realization of the general good.Since Montesquieu's time, political structures would seem to have been very little changed even though social structures have been greatly altered by the rise of economic powers. Political institutions have been losing touch with the vital forces of society and these have had to find other channels of expression. The personalization of power, the rise of the executive, violence, and increasing paternalism may be viewed as phenomena of compensation by which attempts are being made to bridge the gap between the structures of political power and those of a society which has been restructured.Revigoration of parliamentary democracy would seem to require that all vital social forces be reintegrated into the political system and be given meaningful channels of political expression. Failure to make such changes opens the way to identification of the political powers with technocracy and the increasing general use of violence in the resolution of social problems.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul D. Hutchcroft

AbstractPrevious decades' celebrations of the triumph of democracy were frequently based on mainstream analyses that displayed two major theoretical problems. First, conceptualisations of democracy based on ‘minimal pre-conditions’ commonly conflated the formal establishment ofdemocratic structureswith the far more complex and historically challenging creation ofsubstantive democracy. Second, a deductive and generally ahistorical model asserting fixed stages of ‘democratic transition’ diverted attention from deeper and more substantive examination ofstruggles for power among social forces within specific historical contexts. By adhering to minimalist conceptions of democracy and simplistic models of democratic change, mainstream analysts quite often chose to overlook many underlying limitations and shortcomings of the democratic structures they were so keen to celebrate. Given more recent concerns over ‘authoritarian undertow’, those with the normative goal of deepening democracy must begin by deepening scholarly conceptualisations of the complex nature of democratic change. This analysis urges attention to the ‘source’ and ‘purpose’ of democracy. What were the goals of those who established democratic structures, and to what extent did these goals correspond to the ideals of democracy? In many cases throughout the world, ‘democracy’ has been used as a convenient and very effective means for both cloaking and legitimising a broad set of political, social, and economic inequalities. The need for deeper analysis is highlighted through attention to the historical character of democratic structures in the Philippines and Thailand, with particular attention to the sources and purposes of ‘democracy’ amid on-going struggles for power among social forces. In both countries, albeit coming forth from very different historical circumstances, democratic structures have been continually undermined by those with little commitment to the democratic ideal: oligarchic dominance in the Philippines, and military/bureaucratic/monarchic dominance in Thailand. Each country possesses its own set of challenges and opportunities for genuine democratic change, as those who seek to undermine elite hegemony and promote popular accountability operate in very different socio-economic and institutional contexts. Efforts to promote substantive democracy in each setting, therefore, must begin with careful historical analysis of the particular challenges that need to be addressed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8007
Author(s):  
Lintang D. Sekarlangit ◽  
Ratna Wardhani

This study aimed to analyze the board of directors’ commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by looking at the influence of the characteristics and activities of the board of directors and the existence of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) committees on disclosures regarding the SDGs. The directors’ characteristics that were analyzed in this research included the board size, the proportion of independent directors, the presence of female directors, and the presence of foreign directors. The activities analyzed included the number of board meetings held in one year and the percentage of directors in meetings. The context of this study was companies in five Southeast Asian countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines—during the 2016 and 2017 reporting years. This study was an initial research work aiming to empirically examine the effect of the board of directors on SDG disclosures in public companies from five countries in Southeast Asia. The study shows that the percentage of attendance of board directors’ meetings and the existence of CSR committees positively affected SDG disclosures. It also indicates that the presence of the board at the meeting can encourage more intensive SDG disclosures. Companies with a high commitment to sustainability, as shown by their forming of CSR committees, also tended to have a higher level of SDG disclosures.


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