BTI 2012 | Cambodia Country Report (original) (raw)

Cambodia: Challenges of Democratic Consolidation

The political crisis triggered by the Arab Spring in the Middle East, the civil war in Syria, the recent crisis in Ukraine, and the turmoil in Thailand could all serve as obvious examples of the unwanted consequences of drastic political change for other countries to avoid

Cambodia's Transition to Hegemonic Authoritarianism

Journal of Democracy, 2019

Tragedy is a consistent narrative of Cambodian politics. Since 1953, when the country gained its independence from France, it has suffered no less than four coups, three invasions, one civil war, and a cataclysmic genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge. The last few years have witnessed yet another iteration of this narrative. This came in the form of a brutal crackdown and sham election perpetrated by the dictator Hun Sen, who has been in power since January 1985. The crackdown itself targeted the last remaining vestiges of public antagonism to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, namely civil society groups, independent media organizations, and political opponents. The sham election capitalized of this act of suppression by providing a mechanism to maintain power, albeit while feigning conformity to the virtues of party competition, citizen participation and impartial validation. Despite a history of both intense repression and flawed elections under Hun Sen’s government, recent events were unprecedented by the standard of Cambodian politics. This was because Hun Sen’s government was implementing a strategy unfamiliar to people living inside Cambodia and unusual for scholars outside it: a transition from competitive to hegemonic authoritarian rule.

Cambodia: Getting Away with Authoritarianism?

Journal of Democracy, 2005

What if a country holds an election but it proves not to matter? Cambodians voted nationwide in July 2003, only to see their polity’s three main political parties take almost a year to form a new administration. The long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen won 47.4 percent of the popular vote but gained 59.3 percent of

Cambodian Democratization and its challenges

This paper intends to address the political situation in Cambodia. It focuses on the democratization process and its challenges. It examines the political willingness of leaders, knowledge of people as well as corruption, and the problem of separation of power and democratic institutions. The paper utilizes the delegative democracy approach to explain the difficulties faced by Cambodia in its democratization process. With respect to this, the paper also explains how democracy influences the political situation of the country and the living conditions of Cambodian people. In order to promote democracy, the paper demonstrates that people participation and social media could play a very important role to improve democracy in Cambodia. Keywords: Cambodia, Democracy, Democratization, Delegative- Democracy, and Political Situation

Cambodia Twenty Years On: A Political Dynasty in the Making?

After a few decades of authoritarian control and civil war, Cambodia held a UN-sponsored multiparty national election in 1993. Twenty years after the UN left Cambodia, despite some periods of political deadlock, Cambodia's electoral democracy, undoubtedly not without flaws, appears to be relatively stable and has been accepted as a norm.