Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Politics, Patronage and the Persistence of the Ruling Elite in post-UNTAC Cambodia

Petersson, Markus LU (2015) STVK12 20151
Department of Political Science
Abstract (Swedish)
Cambodia’s ruling elite has now remained in power for over 30 years. Today, many scholars believe that this could be attributed to a set of complex and context-specific patron-client relations that intertwines to form the patronage structures that underpin the political system. However, despite this, the specific dynamics of Cambodia’s patronage structures are still considered underexplored. Here, I investigate the strength and persistence of the ruling elite by exploring the internal dynamics of Cambodia’s political context. While internal dynamics is an abstract term, I suggest that it can be conceptualised as the dialectical interaction between material capabilities, ideas and institutions (i.e. forces). This “force-based framework” is... (More)
Cambodia’s ruling elite has now remained in power for over 30 years. Today, many scholars believe that this could be attributed to a set of complex and context-specific patron-client relations that intertwines to form the patronage structures that underpin the political system. However, despite this, the specific dynamics of Cambodia’s patronage structures are still considered underexplored. Here, I investigate the strength and persistence of the ruling elite by exploring the internal dynamics of Cambodia’s political context. While internal dynamics is an abstract term, I suggest that it can be conceptualised as the dialectical interaction between material capabilities, ideas and institutions (i.e. forces). This “force-based framework” is based on Robert Cox’s ontological and epistemological understanding of forces, but adds a constructivist understanding of socially constructed actors. Based on an investigation of empirical material gathered from secondary sources, I argue that the interaction between material domination, manipulation of ideas, and the systematic institutionalisation of patronage relations has constituted a political context that contribute towards the strength and persistence of the ruling elite by exerting strong pressure to conform and support prevailing power relations, at the same time as it limits the scope for rejection and constrains possibilities of resistance (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Petersson, Markus LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK12 20151
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Ruling Elite, Forces, Patronage, Politics, Cambodia
language
English
id
7763368
date added to LUP
2015-11-19 15:12:54
date last changed
2015-11-19 15:12:54
@misc{7763368,
  abstract     = {{Cambodia’s ruling elite has now remained in power for over 30 years. Today, many scholars believe that this could be attributed to a set of complex and context-specific patron-client relations that intertwines to form the patronage structures that underpin the political system. However, despite this, the specific dynamics of Cambodia’s patronage structures are still considered underexplored. Here, I investigate the strength and persistence of the ruling elite by exploring the internal dynamics of Cambodia’s political context. While internal dynamics is an abstract term, I suggest that it can be conceptualised as the dialectical interaction between material capabilities, ideas and institutions (i.e. forces). This “force-based framework” is based on Robert Cox’s ontological and epistemological understanding of forces, but adds a constructivist understanding of socially constructed actors. Based on an investigation of empirical material gathered from secondary sources, I argue that the interaction between material domination, manipulation of ideas, and the systematic institutionalisation of patronage relations has constituted a political context that contribute towards the strength and persistence of the ruling elite by exerting strong pressure to conform and support prevailing power relations, at the same time as it limits the scope for rejection and constrains possibilities of resistance}},
  author       = {{Petersson, Markus}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Politics, Patronage and the Persistence of the Ruling Elite in post-UNTAC Cambodia}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}