Dynastic Democracy

Yoshinori Nishizaki is an associate professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. He is the author of Political Authority and Provincial Identity in Thailand.

“Unprecedented. . . . As the first book of its kind to construct lineages of Thai political elite families linking past to present, as well as their crucial significance to contemporary Thai politics, this work is an excellent read.”—Asian Affairs“A monumental achievement in the study of dynastic politics that is worthy of widespread appreciation, consideration and discussion.”—Journal of the Siam Society “A grand work of applied theory, expanding a provincial power-structure analysis across the whole Thai nation. . . . Nishizaki has constructed a study here that is unique, highly engaging and that pushes Thai studies forward.”—Global Asia “[A] major work that is poised to become an important resource for anyone interested in modern Thai politics. . . . A fascinating book. Nishizaki’s reinterpretation of the entire period of modern Thai political history through a family-based paradigm represents an admirable endeavor to break away from a very limited set of approaches that have long shaped our understanding of Thailand’s political dynamics. His book, in this sense, injects a breath of fresh air into the field of Thai studies.”—Contemporary Southeast Asia “Offers an important and illuminating analytical lens through which to understand Thai politics over the past century. . . . Provides an eye-opening refinement of existing understandings of both state power and class relations in Thailand and a fine-grained sociological analysis of dynastic entrenchment and endurance unmatched in studies of South East Asia for its rigour and richness.”—South East Asia Research“A smart and engaging study of modern Thai politics that places political families at the center of the action. . . . Provides a valuable corrective to existing scholarship on Thailand that downplays or misunderstands the significance of political families and contributes theoretically to the study of democracy and democratic breakdown. . . . A successful study chock-full of insights.”—Democracy and Autocracy“A tour de force. . . . This book should be a critical reference for scholars of Thai politics. The detailed information on kinship networks presented in this book is an invaluable source for understanding the intricate connections of influential families, which are integral to the contemporary Thai political fabric. Yoshinori Nishizaki’s creativity and tenacity in collecting, coding, analysing, and visualising data from various archival sources serve as an excellent example for history, sociology, and political science students who want to conduct similar research in different contexts.”—Journal of Southeast Asian Studies“Nishizaki is one of the keenest analysts of Thai politics working today, and Dynastic Democracy just reinforces that opinion. This is a welcome addition to a growing political science and sociology literature on the causes and consequences of political dynasties.”—Allen Hicken, author of Building Party Systems in Developing Democracies“This thoroughly researched revisionist study ranging from the 1930s to the present day will be a reference for those interested in Thai politics and political networks for a long time to come.”—Chris Baker, coauthor of A History of Thailand

• Lists of Tables and FiguresPreface1 Family Rule in the Thai Parliament: An Overview2 Old Families Die Hard, 1932-733 Birds of a Feather: Network Monarchy4 Ironies of Political Reforms5 The Royalist Regime Out on a Limb6 Thailand’s Dynastic Democracy in Comparative PerspectiveAbbreviationsBibliography