Pollwatching, Elections and Civil Society in Southeast Asia (Leeds Studies in Democratization)
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing
Published: April 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 200
ISBN-13: 9781840144741
Subjects: Central government; Elections & referenda; c 1990 to c 2000; Contemporary Politics - Asia; Elections And Voting; Political Science; Politics / Current Events; Politics/International Relations; South East Asia; Political Process - General; Political Process - Elections; Asia, Southeastern; Civil society; Election monitoring; Elections; Southeast Asia
Description: "As Pollwatching, Elections and Civil Society in Southeast Asia shows through in-depth studies of Thailand and the Philippines, political corruption has been a major point of contention within Southeast Asian countries for decades. The study shows how Thai and Filipino activists responded to the widespread electoral fraud by forming independent election monitoring organizations. Callahan's participatory research on the 1995 general election in Thailand provides a detailed description and analysis of the activities of PollWatch, the election monitoring organization in Thailand. PollWatch is then compared with similar Non-Governmental Organizations in the Philippines such as NAMFREL, and with election practices in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The study shows how election monitoring groups are involved in activities far wider than simple election law enforcement. They are part of grassroots action via social movements and the construction of "alternative political cultures" as well. This book thus will have a wide appeal to scholars and students interested in good governance, corruption, social movements and democratic change, as well as Asian studies."--Jacket.