THE ROLE OF THE MILITARY IN POLITICS AND TRANSITION TO CONSOLIDATED DEMOCRACY: THE CASE STUDY OF SOUTH KOREA AND THAILAND

Abstract

This research examines the roles of military that influence the process of democratization in South Korea and Thailand. This research also studies the factors that contribute to the establishment of a consolidated democracy in South Korea by focusing on the periods when the democratization process started in South Korea in 1980 until the end of Kim Dae-Jung’s presidency in 2003. For Thailand, the focus begins after Black May 1992 until 2014, when the last coup d’état occurred. This research is a qualitative study, employing a descriptive and analytic approach drawing on mostly secondary sources both in Thai and English. The research results showed that in South Korea, military intervention emerged as a result of political weakness, social chaos and military advantage. In Thailand, military intervention has occurred due to social disharmony, e.g. political crisis, social disunity and the military’s conflict of interest. When the two countries transformed from authoritarian to democratic states, Korea’s robust civil society was the crucial factor leading to democratic consolidation. The dividing of Thailand’s civil society and the middle class returning to support authoritarianism are the factors paving the way for military re-intervention. Thus, they could not develop the consolidated democracy like South Korea.