FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Who killed Thai democracy?

Who killed Thai democracy?

I’ve just stumbled on a book that the junta could use to justify its rule and discredit an elected government.

“How Democracies Die” was published in the US a year ago and written by Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University. It briefly mentions Thailand’s 2014 coup and concludes that, “Since the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments themselves,” and “Democratic backsliding today begins at the ballot box.”
Very thought-provoking, indeed. I’m sure it would also provoke a lot of “See, I told you so” from the junta’s sympathisers. I suspect it might be Xi Jinping’s favourite book too.
I expect more books about “consensus fallacy” to come out this year. Next in line may be “How Universities Screw Up Your Future”, selectively focusing on the success of the college dropouts, namely: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Richard Branson. (The latter was a high school dropout.)
Somsak Pola

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