Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...
Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...
Conflict, Legitimacy and Government Reform: Equitable Allocation of ...
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76 KPI Congress XI<br />
suggest that the experiment in governance being conducted by<br />
Thail<strong>and</strong>’s political leadership is not achieving all that its authors would<br />
hope. The “Rationale” cites, among other disturbing signs in recent<br />
Thai political history, clashes between groups with opposing political<br />
views, unrest, loss <strong>of</strong> life, polarization, <strong>and</strong> battles between different<br />
levels <strong>of</strong> government. The “Rationale” further states that these visible<br />
conflicts cover an even deeper set <strong>of</strong> systemic problems including<br />
corruption, misconduct <strong>of</strong> public <strong>of</strong>ficials, unfair allocation <strong>of</strong> resources,<br />
unequal access to educational opportunities, elections influenced by<br />
patronage, <strong>and</strong> military intervention.<br />
If, as is <strong>of</strong>ten said about addictions, the first step toward recovery is<br />
recognizing that one has a problem, the long list <strong>of</strong> problems contained<br />
in this “Rationale” suggests that Thail<strong>and</strong> is ready to undertake the<br />
difficult “Treatment” required to become a full <strong>and</strong> vibrant democracy.<br />
As the recent global financial crisis has reaffirmed, we in the United<br />
States should be very careful about pretending to have lessons to teach<br />
others, whether in economics or politics. Our own failures to address<br />
systemic weaknesses in our financial structures have brought untold<br />
suffering to millions <strong>of</strong> unemployed Americans struggling <strong>and</strong>, in many<br />
cases, loosing their battle to keep their homes <strong>and</strong> families safe. Our<br />
failures because <strong>of</strong> the global influence <strong>of</strong> the U.S. economy have<br />
inflicted life threatening hardship on countless others around the world.<br />
Fortunately, we had a democratic system capable <strong>of</strong> responding<br />
quickly to these failures through the alternation in power <strong>of</strong> an<br />
opposition political party. However, despite the hope that President<br />
Obama has brought to the United States <strong>and</strong>, if the Nobel prize<br />
committee is to be believed, to the rest <strong>of</strong> the world, the jury is still out<br />
on whether we can address the political failures that led to the financial<br />
failures: the corrosive influence <strong>of</strong> money on our political system, the<br />
dominance <strong>of</strong> political decision-making by well-organized lobbies <strong>and</strong><br />
influence peddlers, <strong>and</strong> the undermining <strong>of</strong> the government’s<br />
competence <strong>and</strong> capacity to regulate in the public interest the<br />
functioning <strong>of</strong> the private market economy.