Thaksin's model of government reform: Prime Ministerialisation through “a country is my company” approach

Abstract

This article contends that when a big businessman becomes the leader of a country, he is likely to assume that his country is his company. “A country is my company” approach toward government reform results in prime ministerial predominance as all government power is centralised into the hands of a single authority. This phenomenon of prime ministerialisation is illustrated by the reforms introduced in Thailand by the Thaksin government since 2001. The nine assumptions underlying Prime Minister Thaksin's model of government reform and how they reinforce prime ministerialisation are discussed in the article.

Notes

Bidhya Bowornwathana, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand.