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Volume 95 – No. 3

Democratic Breakdown through Lawfare by Constitutional Courts: The Case of Post-“Democratic Transition” Thailand

Eugénie Mérieau

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Keywords: lawfare, judicialization, constitutional courts, democratic breakdown, democratization, autocratization, Thailand

DOI: 10.5509/2022953475

  • English Abstract
  • Chinese Abstract

Third-wave democracies have massively adopted mechanisms of judicial review, notably constitutional courts, considered key institutions of successful democratic transitions. By preventing abuses of the constitution and safeguarding people’s rights, they act as a bulwark against the claims of potential autocrats. In Thailand, the 1997 democratic transition led to the adoption of a powerful constitutional court tasked with safeguarding democracy from the threats of populism, corruption, and authoritarianism. Yet since its inception, the court’s record has been puzzling. It has dissolved most, if not all, of the pro-democracy, anti-military political parties, dismissed all elected prime ministers, and paved the way for two military coups. In short, against established theories linking constitutional courts to democratization, the introduction of constitutional review in Thailand has led to democratic breakdown. To make sense of this puzzle, this article will investigate three variables of the court—strategic interests, ideologies, and institutional design—within the larger bureaucratic structure of the Thai state, to account for the anti-democratic behaviour of Thailand’s Constitutional Court. This piece considers materials in Thai and English.

通过宪法法庭的法律战导致民主崩溃:以后“民主转型”的泰国为案例

关键词:法律战, 司法化, 宪法法庭, 民主崩溃, 民主化, 专制化, 泰国。

“第三波”民主化的国家广泛采纳了司法审查的机制,尤其是被视为成功的民主转型的关键制度——宪法法庭。通过防止滥用宪法并维护人民的权利,宪法法庭成为抵御潜在的专制者的诉求的保障。 1997年民主转型导致泰国建立了一个强有力的宪法法庭,负责保卫民主免受民粹主义、腐败和威权主义的威胁。然而自成立以来,该法庭的记录就令人十分费解。它解散了大多数(如果不是全部)支持民主反对军队的政党,撤免了所有选举产生的总理,并为两次军事政变铺平了道路。简言之,有悖于认为宪法法庭与民主化是相关联的现有理论,泰国引入的宪法审查导致了民主的崩溃。为解读此谜团,本文在泰国政府更广大的官僚结构中考察了宪法法庭的三个变量—战略利益、意识形态和制度设计,以解释泰国宪法法庭的反民主行为。本论文利用了泰语和英语的资料。

Translated by Li Guo

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Last Revised: February 28, 2023
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