The political history of Thailand since the overthrow of absolute monarchy in 1932 has conventionally been interpreted as a long series of popular struggles for representative democracy and against military authoritarian rule. Yoshinori Nishizaki argues that this history can be better understood as one of struggles by elite political families for and against "dynastic democracy". Drawing extensively on Thai-language primary sources, including assets documents and cremation volumes for deceased politicians and their kin, Nishizaki traces the intricate blood and marriage connections among Thailand's political families. Dynastic Democracy fleshes out a widely acknowledged yet heretofore empirically unsubstantiated facet of Thai political history--that in Thai politics, family matters.

Over the past two decades, ISEAS has compiled abridged articles that analyse key aspects of Southeast Asia’s development and the ASEAN process. The ASEAN Reader was published in 1992 just as the Cold War ended, while The Second ASEAN Reader came in 2003 in the wake of the 1997 Asian crisis and the September 11 attacks in 2001. The past decade has not been spared its share of intense changes, with the rise of China and India bringing new challenges to the region’s power equation, and the impact of the 2008 global financial crisis. Despite this, the momentum towards an integrated ASEAN community has been maintained. The articles in The Third ASEAN Reader study the trends and events of recent years, and discuss the immediate future of Southeast Asia.

A comprehensive study of dynasticism in modern democracies, providing a new perspective on where dynasties come from and why they matter.

This book, the first historical sociology of its kind concerning Bangladesh, examines the country's what-went-wrong-syndrome during the first fifty years of its existence, 1971-2021. The work is an exception to the traditional studies on modern and contemporary Bangladesh. The study is also a post-history of united Pakistan. Busting several myths, it sheds light on many known and unknown facts about the history, politics, society, and culture of the country. Besides being a twice-born country – liberated twice, from the British in 1947 and from West Pakistanis in 1971 – it is also an artificial entity suffering from acute crises of culture, development, governance, and identity. Hashmi attributes the culture and identity crises to the demographic byproducts of bad governance. In addition to being overpopulated, Bangladesh is also resource-poor and has one of the most unskilled populations, largely lumpen elements and peasants. According to Marx, these people represent “the unchanging remnants of the past”. The second round of independence empowered these lumpen classes, who suffer from an identity crisis and never learn the art of governance. The proliferation of pseudo-history about liberation has further divided the polity between the two warring tribes who only glorify their respective idols, Mujib and Zia. Pre-political and pre-capitalist peasants’ / lumpen elements’ lack of mutual trust and respect have further plagued Bangladesh, turning it into one of the least governable, corrupt, and inefficient countries. It is essential to replace the pre-capitalist order of the country run by multiple lumpen classes with capitalist and inclusive institutions.

During the past few years, India has passed through a tumultuous period, characterised by events, ideas and reforms which are truly transforming the socio-economic landscape of the country. It is an era of great upheaval in the country—socially, economically and politically—which is making a complete break with its past to rediscover itself and to redefine its role in the twenty-first century world. This book, a collection of fifty published essays, captures the spirit of these extraordinary times in India that are shaping not only its own future, but also impacting, and being in turn impacted by, the world around. In the process of harnessing the energy and creative potential of the billion-plus population of this youthful nation, and to leverage the power of technology to accelerate growth and improve delivery, fault-lines are also appearing that threaten to disrupt the process of change. The book chronicles the essence of these changing times in India, encompassing its history, economy and society against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving world.

Tarlo provides and account of India's Emergency of 1975-97, when Indian democracy was temporarily suspended in favor of authoritarian rule, from the perspective of ordinary people.

Introducing the MTG CBSE Chapterwise Question Bank Class 10 Social-Science – a must-have for students looking to excel in their board exams. This comprehensive book contains notes for each chapter, along with a variety of question types to enhance understanding. With detailed solutions and practice papers based on the latest CBSE exam pattern. With the latest official CBSE sample question paper for class 10 Social Science included in this edition, this book is the ultimate resource for thorough preparation.