“Ambiguous” Network Monarchy as Problematic Euphoric Couplet

Frequently cited in the literature on recent Thai politics, Duncan McCargo’s influential “network monarchy” concept is nonetheless inadequately developed. As such, it has been questioned and challenged by several scholars in recent years. In his 2021 Pacific Affairs article, McCargo rebuts many of these scholars’ arguments and defends his concept. His defence is unpersuasive, however. It falls short of elaborating on the scope, composition, and modus operandi of network monarchy, leaving the shortcomings of his original concept unrectified. Most seriously, McCargo now accentuates the “ambiguous” quality of network monarchy—a quality he did not emphasize originally—in order to accommodate new empirical anomalies and counter his critics. By so doing, he renders his argument unfalsifiable. Drawing on Robert Cribb’s thoughts, this article first spells out why or how the insufficiently developed network monarchy concept has become so widespread in the first place. It then examines the untenable nature of McCargo’s rejoinder to his critics, especially to Eugénie Mérieau.

视角

“模棱两可”的网络君主制—有问题的耐人寻味的双词组合

关键词：泰国政治，网络君主制，普密蓬国王，邓肯∙麦卡戈，耐人寻味的双词组合，宪法法院。

尽管在研究近期泰国政治的文献中被频繁引用， 邓肯∙ 麦卡戈（Duncan McCargo）颇具影响力的“网络君主制“概念却并未得到充分发展。因此，近年来它受到了一些学者的质疑和挑战。麦卡戈在2021年《太平洋事务》杂志发表的文章中反驳了这些学者的论点，并为自己的概念加以辩护。然而他的辩护缺少说服力；它没有对网络君主制的范围、构成和运作方式加以充分阐述，因此未能矫正他原本概念中的缺陷。更严重的是，麦卡戈现在突出强调了网络君主制”模棱两可“的本质——这是他最初并未着重强调的——以便能适用于新的经验异常并反击他的批评者。但这样一来他的论点就不可证伪了。本文利用罗伯特∙克里布(Robert Cribb)的思想，首先阐明了未经充分发展的网络君主制概念为什么或者是如何变得广为流行的；然后考察了麦卡戈对他的批评者——特别是欧也妮∙梅里奥(Eugénie Mérieau)——的反驳的站不住脚的本质。

Translated by Li Guo