Political Structure and Public Policy Conflict Management: A Comparative Study on Thailand and Malaysia
(2004) Asian Political and International Studies Association congress, 2003- Abstract
- Public policy conflicts emerge when feelings of scarcity and different interests dominate interactive process among the government and the public. The stakeholders struggle in a lower violence capacity but broad range of conflicting issues. Thus, some parties may use cooperative or/and competitive conflict management approaches to achieve their goals. This thesis argues that different political structures influence the use of different conflict management mechanisms in managing public policy conflicts. The constitutions, social cultures and national political competitions are a few among the many factors that may manoeuvre a stakeholder’s movement and strategies in the conflict management process.
Thailand (liberal democracy) and... (More) - Public policy conflicts emerge when feelings of scarcity and different interests dominate interactive process among the government and the public. The stakeholders struggle in a lower violence capacity but broad range of conflicting issues. Thus, some parties may use cooperative or/and competitive conflict management approaches to achieve their goals. This thesis argues that different political structures influence the use of different conflict management mechanisms in managing public policy conflicts. The constitutions, social cultures and national political competitions are a few among the many factors that may manoeuvre a stakeholder’s movement and strategies in the conflict management process.
Thailand (liberal democracy) and Malaysia (semi-authoritarian) are the comparative cases, which will be examined in this article. The economic achievements and fast industrialization process have increased the development in these two countries. Large-scale water development projects, particularly hydroelectric power plants have been constructed to fill in the energy gap. However, the hydroelectric projects have caused conflicts between the policy maker and the public. Opposition from affected villagers, NGOs and society members is manifested through demonstrations and lobbying activities. Nevertheless, although both countries face similar conflict situations, the regime’s conflict management responses are differ very much from each other.
Here, it is suggested that the political structure design of the liberal democratic country tended to allow better public participation in the conflict management process, where the public was able to consolidate and organise open demonstrations to pressure the regime. On the other hand, the authoritarian regime reacted with a more suppressive approach by using the stick and carrot approach to prevent the escalation of the conflicts. Laws, regulations and force were used to restrict the public from any open opposition. As conclusion, political structure does influence stakeholders’ conflict management approaches particularly in public policy conflicts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4354472
- author
- Ang, Ming Chee LU
- publishing date
- 2004
- type
- Contribution to conference
- publication status
- unpublished
- subject
- keywords
- political institutions, public policy, conflict management, malaysia, thailand
- conference name
- Asian Political and International Studies Association congress, 2003
- conference location
- Singapore, Singapore
- conference dates
- 2003-11-27 - 2003-11-30
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 130f29e5-fb6b-41e5-a54d-12752276f223 (old id 4354472)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 14:11:21
- date last changed
- 2018-11-21 21:18:49
@misc{130f29e5-fb6b-41e5-a54d-12752276f223,
abstract = {{Public policy conflicts emerge when feelings of scarcity and different interests dominate interactive process among the government and the public. The stakeholders struggle in a lower violence capacity but broad range of conflicting issues. Thus, some parties may use cooperative or/and competitive conflict management approaches to achieve their goals. This thesis argues that different political structures influence the use of different conflict management mechanisms in managing public policy conflicts. The constitutions, social cultures and national political competitions are a few among the many factors that may manoeuvre a stakeholder’s movement and strategies in the conflict management process.<br/><br>
Thailand (liberal democracy) and Malaysia (semi-authoritarian) are the comparative cases, which will be examined in this article. The economic achievements and fast industrialization process have increased the development in these two countries. Large-scale water development projects, particularly hydroelectric power plants have been constructed to fill in the energy gap. However, the hydroelectric projects have caused conflicts between the policy maker and the public. Opposition from affected villagers, NGOs and society members is manifested through demonstrations and lobbying activities. Nevertheless, although both countries face similar conflict situations, the regime’s conflict management responses are differ very much from each other. <br/><br>
Here, it is suggested that the political structure design of the liberal democratic country tended to allow better public participation in the conflict management process, where the public was able to consolidate and organise open demonstrations to pressure the regime. On the other hand, the authoritarian regime reacted with a more suppressive approach by using the stick and carrot approach to prevent the escalation of the conflicts. Laws, regulations and force were used to restrict the public from any open opposition. As conclusion, political structure does influence stakeholders’ conflict management approaches particularly in public policy conflicts.}},
author = {{Ang, Ming Chee}},
keywords = {{political institutions; public policy; conflict management; malaysia; thailand}},
language = {{eng}},
title = {{Political Structure and Public Policy Conflict Management: A Comparative Study on Thailand and Malaysia}},
year = {{2004}},
}