Panel

CALL FOR PAPERS

Party Politics in Southeast Asia:
Theoretical and Comparative Dimensions
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Panel accepted for the 6th EUROSEAS Conference,
26-28 August 2010, Gothenburg, Sweden

Convenors: Dr. Dirk Tomsa (School of Asian Languages and Studies, University of Tasmania)
dirk.tomsa@utas.edu.au
Dr. Andreas Ufen (GIGA Institute of Asian Studies, Hamburg)
ufen@giga-hamburg.de

Southeast Asia is characterized by a broad diversity of political systems, ranging from electoral democracies to competitive authoritarian regimes, one-party states, an absolute monarchy and a military dictatorship. In view of this immense variety it is hardly surprising that the parties and party systems of Southeast Asia also have very little in common. In fact, they seem to be as varied as the broader political systems in which they are embedded. For scholars of comparative politics, this poses a dilemma as useful variables are often hard to come by. Indeed, up to this point only a very small number of comparative studies on Southeast Asian party politics exist.

This panel seeks to explore the possibilities of comparing parties and party systems across the region by critically investigating the usefulness of a number of relevant theoretical tools such as, for example, party and party system institutionalization theory or the social cleavage model developed by Lipset and Rokkan. Furthermore, the panel will also examine other aspects of party politics in Southeast Asia, including the organizational dimension of parties, the role of institutions such as electoral or party laws, coalition theory, party typologies, the impact of political culture on party dynamics etc.

The goal of the panel is not simply to highlight deficiencies in existing theories, but rather to identify starting points for convergence between established models in order to develop better tools for the comparative analysis of Southeast Asian party politics. Moreover, the panel also seeks to explore the possibilities and limitations of interdisciplinary approaches. To this end, we invite innovative research from a broad range of academic disciplines, especially political science, area studies, sociology and anthropology. In particular, we invite contributions that engage with one or several of the following questions:

- How can Southeast Asian parties be classified?
- What functions do Southeast Asian parties serve?
- What factors shape the emergence and development of parties and party systems in Southeast Asia?
- What impact do social cleavages have on the formation and development of parties and party systems in Southeast Asia?
- Are there any regional trends in Southeast Asian party politics that could facilitate the development of new region-specific theoretical models?
- What is the relationship between party and party system institutionalization and how do these processes affect the future of democracy in Southeast Asia?
- Can parties play a role in conflict prevention/resolution in fragmented or divided societies?

Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words and some brief biographical data to both panel convenors by 31 January 2010. For further information, please check the conference website at: http://www.euroseas.org/platform/en/content/the-6th-euroseas-conference-gothenburg-2010