The thesis will make a close inquiry to the political system of Cambodia by an in-depth analysis of the 2013 Cambodian General Election. The purpose of the thesis is to investigate the tool for solidifying the electoral authoritarianism, in Cambodia and the factor, which possibly transforms its current authoritarian system.
The electoral authoritarianism, a system of analysis of the thesis, is a hybrid system, which consists of democratic factors and authoritarian factors. The factors are further divided by the four following characteristics. The first characteristic facilitates periodical and legal election, which does not bring changes to the election result. Thus, the election does not have a significant role as an election for devolution. The second one allows multiple parties to come in power. In fact, however, the politics is run under the predominant party system. The third one controls a result of an election through nested games. The fourth one authoritatively restricts the government power in a long run. Cambodia satisfies all four conditions, and henceforth, is considered to be a state with electoral authoritarianism.
The general election in 2013 was not far off from the characteristics of electoral authoritarianism. Cambodian electoral law, which had not yet been revised, and had remained merely for effect, worked in favor of Cambodia People’s Party(CPP). The general election in 2013 revealed CPP’s illegal act of election as well. Furthermore, CPP has exerted its influence to the voters’ right to vote by regulating the state power through an authoritarian and monolithic system.
In the context, which the ruling party maintains the strong political power, Cambodia shows some possibilities for a political transition. Since 1993, Cambodia has maintained the predominant party system. Be that as it may, the increased approval rating for the opposition party has transformed the national assembly into more competitive form. Moreover, the economic development has led to the income increase, the improvement of the quality of life, and urbanization. The development of communications technology has become the basis for democratization due to more liberal transmission of information, which had been limited to the citizens. The escalation of the youth population as a result of the transformation of population structure increases the supporters for the opposition party as well. Most of these newly emerged populations are educated, and therefore not illiterate. Hence, they have expanded the arena of information exchange from television or radio broadcastings to the Internet. The political participation of the youth has also increased compared to the past, and the patterns are varied.
The general election in 2013 indicates that the political transformation of Cambodian society is in a progress. Although Cambodia has not yet escaped from its long-lasted electoral authoritarianism, evidences prove that the people are trying to deviate from the ruling party: Cambodia People’s Party. It is difficult to accurately predict the results of the general election in 2018. However, there is no doubt that the political movements from the youth in Cambodia will keep actively operating.