Explaining the Rise and Varieties of Party Factionalism: Evidence from Competitive Party Systems in Southeast Asia

This workshop examines intra-party factions and factionalism in competitive party systems of Southeast Asia. These include the cases of Indonesia, the Philippines, East Timor (Timor-Leste), Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia. The workshop centers primarily upon one question: in competitive party systems of Southeast Asia, what accounts for the rise of factionalism in some party systems relative to others? This research question is important because it focuses attention on the evolution of political parties and party systems as crucial building blocks for democracy and democratic consolidation in electoral democracies. Factions are (informal) core institutions extending from parties to parliaments, the state administration and even into business circles and, thus, structure whole societies. There are relatively few studies on party organizations and this dearth of studies has made the subject of party organization a virtual “black box.”

Participants:

• PD Dr. Andreas Ufen, Senior Research Fellow, GIGA, Hamburg‒Theory, Malaysia

• Dr. Paul Chambers, Director of Research and Lecturer at the Institute of Southeast Asian Affairs, Faculty of Law, Chiang Mai University; Associate Research Fellow at GIGA‒Theory, Thailand

• Prof. Allen Hicken, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Michigan‒Theory and Comparison

• Prof. Julio Teehankee, Professor of Comparative Politics and International Development Studies and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, De La Salle University, Manila‒Philippines

• Prof. Mark Thompson, Professor of Politics, Department of Asian and International Studies, City University of Hong Kong‒Theory and Comparison

• Dr. Napisa Waitoolkiat, Deputy Director and Lecturer, College of ASEAN Community Studies, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand‒Thailand

• Prof.Sorpong Peou, Professor in, and Chair of, the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University, Toronto‒Cambodia

• Dr. Dirk Tomsa, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Politics and Philosophy, La Trobe University, Melbourne‒Indonesia

• Prof. Netina Tan, Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario‒Singapore

• Prof. Dennis Shoesmith, Associate Professor of Politics, School of Creative Arts and Humanities, Charles Darwin University, Darwin‒Timor-Leste

• Prof. Robert H. Taylor, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore‒Myanmar

Timeline: Submission of papers 15. July Workshop 1 - 2 August 2016