Description

Since 1932, Thailand has had 19 constitutions and 13 successful coups d’etat. A constitution lasts in average 4.5 years while there is a coup every 6.5 years. Yet political instability in Thailand is only apparent. Governments have come and gone, but the Deep State (the bureaucracy, the army, and the monarchy) has remained unchallenged. Although formal constitutional changes did not always reflect this trend, the Deep State’s control over Thai politics has increased thanks to the use of special powers in times of crisis. From 2006 to 2014, special powers in times of crisis were vested in the Constitutional Court, which used them to dissolve political parties, prevent constitutional revision, and cancel general elections, paving the way for two coups d’etat in 2006 and 2014. This talks aims at investigating and analyzing the progressive constitutionalization of special “crisis powers” from the 1990s until now.

About The Speaker

Eugenie Merieau is currently pursuing a PhD in Political Science from the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO), Paris, France. She holds a Masters Degree in International Security from Sciences Po, Paris. She also holds additional undergraduate degrees in law from Sorbonne University, Paris, and in Southeast Asian studies from INALCO, Paris. She teaches constitutional politics, democratization and human rights at Sciences-Po, Paris, France as well as Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand. Her research interests include political crisis, democratization and the Rule of Law in Southeast Asia, and especially in Thailand. Her latest book publication is “Red-shirts in Thailand”, Paris:IRASEC, 2013, 176 p. (in French). Forthcoming works include “Judicialization of politics and the Deep State : how royal powers were transferred to the Constitutional Court” to be published in 2016 in Journal of Contemporary Asia and “Illiberal constitutionalism : the legal-military alliance in Thailand” in Bjoern DRESSEL and Marco BUENTE (eds.) Constitutional Politics in Southeast Asia, to be published in 2016 with Routledge.