Research Article
The General Elections and Political Structure Changes in Thailand
Sogang Institute for East Asian Studies, Sogang University
Published: February 2007 · Vol. 26 No. 1 · pp. 175-217
DOI: https://doi.org/10.33334/sieas.2007..52.175
Full Text
Abstract
This paper aims to analyze the political structure changes in Thailand, that resulted from the elections which were held under the 1997 Constitution. The time period for this paper accounts for Thaksin Shinawatra's regime, that was toppled by the military coup amid the increasing opposition pressure on it's authoritarianism. The 1997 Constitution has been established with the intentions to reform the current multi-party system, which caused the political instability, to eliminate bureaucratic circle's political power from the political area, to expand political influences of civil society, and to expand political influences of judicial and semi-judicial institutions. But the intentions couldn't be reflected in political reality. In this paper, we'll analyze how truly the political structure according to the 1997 Constitution's intentions, has changed since the general elections from 2000. In order to reach this objective, the paper is divided into five parts. Part one is introduction. Part two includes the changes of political party system from the elections which were held under the 1997 Constitution. Part three deals with the political results according to the changes of political party system. Part four deals with the responds of main political actors to the results of the elections. Last part provides conclusion with the integrative analysis for the change of political structure
