THE LIMITATIONS OF MYANMAR’S 2011 POLITICAL TRANSITION TO CIVILIAN RULE

Abstract

In my thesis, I investigated the conditions of Myanmar’s 2011 political transition from a direct military rule to a civilian government in order to figure out why and how the Tatmadaw still manages to exercise political power in the post-authoritarian parliamentary government today. My central finding that I put forth in this thesis is that this political transition was not one towards a democracy, but rather a transition in the scale of Tatmadaw’s role in politics. More specifically, it is an example of an “imposed,” top-down transition that was controlled by the Tatmadaw from a position of strength. This fact is evident in the 2008 Constitution drafting process, as well as various sections in the 2008 Constitution that are structurally biased towards the Tatmadaw. In other words, the 2008 Constitution was an ambitious military strategy to transition from playing a direct role in politics, to a more passive role, as a check to democratic power, or acting as a “moderator” or “guardian.”