%0 Journal Article
%T From Illiberal Democracy to Military Authoritarianism: Intra
%A Prajak Kongkirati
%J The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
%@ 1552-3349
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0002716218806912
%X Thailand fits the pattern of pernicious polarized politics identified in this volume, where a previously excluded group successfully gains political power through the ballot box, governs unilaterally to pursue radical reforms, and produces a backlash from the traditional power elites. In Thailand, elite conflict has been a major part of the story, but this article argues that political polarization there cannot be merely understood as ¡°elite-driven¡±: conflict among the elites and the masses, and the interaction between them, produced polarized and unstable politics. Violent struggle is caused by class structure and regional, urban-rural disparities; elite struggle activates the existing social cleavages; and ideological framing deepens the polarization. While the Yellow Shirts and traditional elites want to restore and uphold the ¡°Thai-style democracy¡± with royal nationalism, the Red Shirts espouse the ¡°populist democracy¡± of strong elected government with popular nationalism and egalitarian social order
%K polarization
%K Thaksin Shinawatra
%K populism
%K Thai-style democracy
%K military authoritarianism
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0002716218806912