Why Did Thailand's Middle Class Turn Against a Democratically Elected Government? The Information-Gap Hypothesis

Democratization 19.6 (2012): 1138-1165

50 Pages Posted: 23 Jun 2015

See all articles by Kai Jäger

Kai Jäger

King’s College London - Department of Political Economy

Date Written: June 20, 2015

Abstract

In 2006, Bangkok middle-class residents overwhelmingly supported the military coup that displaced the elected government of Thaksin Shinawatra. Survey research shows that opponents of Thaksin had a stronger commitment to liberal democracy and possibly to royalist values while rural voters supported Thaksin because he fulfilled their social demands. Opposition to Thaksin was not motivated by economic interests, but rather, there is some evidence that urban middle- and upper-class voters disliked Thaksin because they heard negative reporting about him, which were less available in the countryside. These findings are compatible with a new theory of democratic consolidation, in which the upper classes have the means that would enable and encourage them to pay sufficient attention to politics to discover that what they viewed as “good government” was violated by the ruling party, which could have led to demands for more democracy historically. More recently, however, in Thailand and perhaps other instances in Southeast Asia and Latin America, those with the money and leisure to follow politics closely have heard reports about the “bad government” of populist, democratically elected leaders, and thus have turned against them.

Keywords: Thailand, Democratic Consolidation, Information-Gap Hypothesis, Social Movements, Middle Class, Media and Public Opinion, Thaksin Shinawatra, PAD, Military Coup

Suggested Citation

Jäger, Kai, Why Did Thailand's Middle Class Turn Against a Democratically Elected Government? The Information-Gap Hypothesis (June 20, 2015). Democratization 19.6 (2012): 1138-1165, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2621107

Kai Jäger (Contact Author)

King’s College London - Department of Political Economy ( email )

Strand Building
London
United Kingdom

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
110
Abstract Views
770
Rank
447,736
PlumX Metrics