Yingluck Shinawatra was a relative unknown in the political sphere, entering politics with the Pheu Thai Party (PT) and immediately placed in the spotlight as the party’s front runner and contested in the 2011 elections with mere months of experience, an unlikely candidate in the male-dominated bastion of Thai politics. Yet she had not only won the elections but also by a considerable margin, enough to command a parliamentary majority without the need of a coalition, done only by Thaksin’s Thai Rak Thai Party before. She also made history for being Thailand’s first female Prime Minister and also one of its youngest in recent memory. Even so her capabilities were questioned, and her candidacy drew several sceptics. Despite winning the elections with a popular mandate, it remains a fact that Yingluck was a political neophyte and while she boasts several top posts in various industries during her professional career before entering politics, these companies were all linked to her elder brother Thaksin. In this essay I will argue that Yingluck has not contributed significantly to Thai politics because of her brother’s influence and the ineffectiveness of her policies. I will first address how her familial background has affected her leadership before addressing key policies which her administration has implemented.
He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother
Yingluck’s and Pheu Thai’s affiliation to deposed Prime Minister Thaksin had been the centre of much conflict between PT and the opposition parties. It is no secret that Yingluck is the younger sister of Thaksin, whom was ousted from office by a military coup in 2006. Coming into the political scene, she carried the marker of her older brother. Unsurprisingly Yingluck had come under accusat...
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...l turmoil, but it is without doubt that Thaksin’s continued influence and presence had planted the seeds which would unravel the fragile peace. Thaksin remains a polarising factor in Thai politics and his connections with PT and Yingluck had cast doubt if Yingluck is truly in control or if she is influenced, or simply a puppet as some critics would suggest, by Thaksin. Yingluck’s policies also does not appear to be well conceived given the cracks that have appeared in them, creating doubts that it was meant to serve the interests of the poor or merely to placate them insofar to sustain their support for Yingluck. Taking all factors into consideration, Yingluck can be said to not have contributed to Thai politics significantly, primarily due to Thaksin’s influence and her ill conceived policies, prescribing Thailand a medication that has already proven ineffective.
After Mao Zedong’s failed Cultural Revolution, the country was in a state of disarray. Political isolation had caused the economy to falter, while citizens struggled everyday to adhere to communist ideals. Collectivization and municipalization ran the nation, meaning the government had total control over the country which left citizens without a chance of earning their own money or providing for themselves. In turn, the quality of life in China decreased and riots began to break out. Deng Xiaoping was the leader that succeeded Mao after his death in 1976, and his reforms helped turn around the country’s economic and social situation. Careful strategic moves made by Deng allowed other countries to invest in China’s economy and the government gave people more control over their land and education. He also reduced the power of the government, moving away from Communism and towards democracy. Deng Xiaoping had a positive influence on China because he opened China up to the global markets and increased the quality of life for millions of people.
Jeremy Bentham, a leading English prison reformer of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, developed an architectural plan for an ideal prison that he called the Panopticon. Such a prison would consist of a ring of individual cells encircling an observation tower. Each of the cells would open toward the tower and be illuminated by its own outside window. So, by the effect of backlighting, a single guard in the observation tower could keep watch on many prisoners--each of whom would be individually confined--without himself being seen. And because the prisoners could not see their supervisors, they would have to assume that they were being watched at all times--even if they were not. The Panopticon was designed to maximize the power of a dominating, overseeing gaze upon a transparent society of inmates. The purpose of the Panopticon was not so much to punish wrongdoers as to prevent wrongdoing by immersing prisoners in a field of total visibility in the expectation that the possibility of constant surveillance would serve to restrain the inmates (Foucault, 1980). Such surveillance would be aimed toward the interiorization of the supervisor's gaze so that each prisoner would, in effect, become his/her own overseer. Thus, through self-policing, surveillance would become permanent and pervasive in its effects--even if it was not continuously exercised.
The goals of Deng Xiaoping’s economic reform were the ‘Four Modernizations’. This Four Modernization refers to the reform of agriculture, industry, national defense, and science technology. These reforms were to solve the problems of motivating workers and farmers to produce a larger surplus and to eliminate economic imbalances that were common in command economies.
Prak, K, B, & Schuette, S. (2007). Gender and Women in politics in Cambodia. Henrich Boll
Kyi Suu San Aung. "The Quest of Democracy." Reading The World: Ideas That Matter, edited
Deng Xiaoping was a force for evil and that he was responsible for taking away
After giving up his position as Prime Minister, Purun took up the begging-bowl and ochre-colored dress of a holy man. This is what Purun believed needed to be done based on his culture. Pur...
Chiang Kai Shek, who started out as military leader, built an enormous legacy that is tied around both China and Taiwan. Chiang was born on October 31, 1887, in a small town in Zhejiang province, China. Though his father died when he was at a young age, it never affected him, he continued to pursue in the military career. While in Japan attending the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, he devoted most of his time studying the work of Sun Yat Sen who was the leader of the nationalist party (Kuomintang) in China. After finishing his military training he joined the Kuomintang, where he worked under Sun. Sun sent Chiang to Moscow for further military training and appointed him to lead the Whampoa Military Academy. Soon after Sun died in 1925, Chiang took over and became the leader and president of the party. Chiang and the nationalist party continued to rule Mainland China until 1949, when they lost to the communist party in the Chinese civil war. Some historians may see Chiang’s legacy as a failure to create democracy in China and himself as dictator after taking full control over the leadership and presidency in Taiwan. However, other scholars see Chiang as the leader of democracy, as he attempted to unify and modernize China while in power. He unfortunately was defeated during the Chinese civil war and fled to Taiwan, where he brought democracy to the country. Chiang is an impressive figure that was able to reunify and lead a country that was recognized to be almost ungovernable, he had an extremely knowledgeable military mindset that was practically able to overthrow the communist party if the United States had continued to support, and most significantly he brought the system of democracy to Taiwan and modernized the country.
She actively participated and engaged in discussions, possessed advice giving abilities, nurturing and accommodating personality (Endicott & Endicott, 2008, p. 6). More specifically, however, she was not only of high intelligence with expertise in the main areas of the group’s practices (Endicott & Endicott, 2008, p. 64). She also had good judgment, experience, and strong persuasion skills (Endicott K. , Property, Power and Conflict among the Batek of Malaysia, 1988, p. 123). In many ways, these qualities were akin to those of a skilled politician. Headmen within the society must be natural leaders to have influence within the community and are chosen from among men (Endicott K. , 1999, p. 301) but, in this case, stood out as a female who embodied the required qualities. This display of gender equality in Batek societies can also be seen to extend to the family
...country to change: the King. He invites the “imperialistic” teacher to teach his eldest son. Why? In the letter confirming Anna’s employment, the King says that he wanted Siam “to take its place among the nations of the modern world.” As a man and as a king, he acts very carefully. He wants to ensure that in his country “no man is above the law.” He does not make any extraordinary changes, but he allows Anna to teach his children anything she wants (he knows Anna’s liberal position). His decision determines the future of Siam: his son abolishes slavery, institutes religious freedom and reforms the judicial system.
The topic of democracy in China is a highly controversial topic. Although China has not democratised, it has done well in the global situation amongst its democratic competitors. Since the path to democracy is different for each country, we cannot expect that China would follow the same path or same model of democracy as the western nations. This essay will look at what democracy is and how it can be placed in a Chinese context as well as looking at the proponents and opponents of democracy in China. It will also look at whether China is democratising by focusing on village elections, globalisation and the emergence of a civil society. These specific topics were chosen because they will help provide good evidence and arguments to the topic of democratisation in China. The main argument in this essay will be that although China is implementing some changes that can be seen as the beginning of a road to democracy, there contribution should not be over estimated. China still has a long way to go before it can be considered that it is democratising. The small changes are good but China still has a long road ahead of itself to achieve democracy.
...orming Tiko into a submissive participant in their international funding games. The Tikongs lost their tradition and identity because of the premeditated actions of the bureaucracy. Furthermore, as evidenced by Pasifikiwei’s symbolic change, even their self-respect disappeared. Like Peter in Office Space, the people of Tiko became the faceless and nameless workers in a government induced pipe dream for the attainment of actual progress. Although the bureaucracy never truly succeeded in incorporating its policies in Tiko, by dehumanizing the Tikongs, undercutting their culture, and convincing the populace to work for “progress”, the bureaucracy pacified the Tikongs. Development did not improve their way of life; instead it turned them into another casualty of colonialism, a people without a culture in a perpetual struggle towards a non-existent goal.
China's Foreign Policy Since the initial warming of U.S.-China relations in the early 1970’s, policymakers have had difficulty balancing conflicting U.S. policy concerns in the People’s Republic of China. In the strange world of diplomacy between the two, nothing is predictable. From Nixon to Clinton, presidents have had to reconcile security and human rights concerns with the corporate desire for expanded economic relations between the two countries. Nixon established ties with Mao Zedong’s brutal regime in 1972. And today, Clinton’s administration is trying to influence China’s course from within a close economic and diplomatic relationship.
Haskell, J. (n.d.). Racial Politics, Power, and Dominant Party Autocracy in Malaysia. Retrieved from http://sjir.stanford.edu/6.1.07_haskell.html
A country’s struggle to power is much like that of two rivalling siblings. They are locked in a constant competition as they attempt to one-up the other. Countries do the same as they race against each other to produce better exports, and to attract more money into their economy. They are constantly vying against each other for the center of attention so that they are the main focal point of the international world. This competition continues until one finally relents, or blatantly falls, and allows the other to shine; much like how China is slowly managing to overtake the U.S. in terms of international influence. The success of one individual cannot remain forever, and eventually they will begin to fall. This is the current situation where the U.S. and China stand today as China is beginning to overtake the U.S. in terms of economic capability. With a superior economy, it is possible for China to overcome the challenges it faces as it moves into position as the next world power. Though, just like the pair of siblings, despite China’s recent successes, the other won’t disappear completely. The U.S. will not disappear into the background and allow China to take complete control as hegemon, or world power, and establish something akin to a uni-mulipolar system. A system where there is one main power and many already established rising powers. This uni-multipolar system allows for other countries to continuously compete for the position at the top.