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Team Work: Shifting Patterns and Relationships in Local and National Politics in Thailand
- Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia
- ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute
- Volume 32, Number 3, November 2017
- pp. 562-600
- Article
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Abstract:
Much has been written about the changing relationship between parties and voters in Thailand during a period in which party loyalty has grown stronger. Scholars have devoted much less attention to the new patterns of relationships that have emerged between parties and provincial politicians. These patterns, which are with some variations common to all parties, have seen both parties and provincial politicians benefit from shared voter loyalties and from the political patronage available at the local level. The findings presented here highlight the importance of local politics — in securing access to government resources, in indirect support of political parties and in deterring both authoritarianism and the emergence of a more competitive democracy.