Reports
Discussion Papers
No.536 The Stakes of Politics and Electoral Administration: A Comparative Study of Southeast Asian Democracies
by KAWANAKA Takeshi
October 2015
ABSTRACT
Elections
play
a
crucial
role
in
political
stability
in
post-democratization,
and
electoral
administrations
are
the
key
to
the
electoral
process.
However,
not
all
newly
democratized
countries
have
established
reliable
electoral
administration.
New
democracies
in
Southeast
Asia,
such
as
the
Philippines,
Indonesia
and
Thailand,
have
independent
election
commissions
which
have
different
characteristics,
especially
in
terms
of
neutrality.
Based
on
three
cases,
this
paper
claims
that
the
stakes
of
politics
are
the
major
determinant
of
the
variations
in
neutrality.
The
high
stakes
of
politics
in
Thailand
brought
about
the
partisan
election
commission,
while
the
low
stakes
in
Indonesia
made
the
electoral
system
relatively
neutral.
Like
Thailand,
the
high
stakes
of
politics
in
the
Philippines
also
cause
political
intervention
in
the
electoral
administration.
Keywords:
democracy,
election,
electoral
administration,
Southeast
Asia,
the
Philippines,
Thailand,
Indonesia,
the
stakes
of
politics
Please note that discussion papers are works in various stages of progress and most have not been edited and proofread and may contain errors of fact or judgment. Revised versions of these papers may subsequently appear in more formal publication series. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s). The IDE does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included and accepts no responsibility for any consequences arising from its use.