Karaoke country : the failure of democratization and peacebuilding in Cambodia

Abstract

This thesis examines attempts to foster democracy in post-conflict nations. Using Cambodia as a case study, it traces Cambodian history and examines the country's political culture to determine structures which may help or hinder the democratization process. Further it argues that the model of democratization attempted by the United Nations in Cambodia during the UNTAC mission from 1991 to 1993 was procedurally based and inappropriate to Cambodia given this history and political culture. The key theoretical argument is that the problem with the UNTAC attempt at democratization in Cambodia is found in the underpinnings of UN peacebuilding policy. Guided by the tenets of the New Orthodoxy school of theorists in political development, the UN did not undertake the kind of analysis of Cambodia's political, social and historical readiness for democracy offered by an alternative school of thought, such as the political economy school. In terms of reorienting policy, the thesis argues is that true democracy in Cambodia must be developed over a long time period, through a bottom up strategy. This strategy is the only effective method of developing a democracy with accountability and transparency in Cambodia which extends beyond the capital of Phnom Penh, to have a direct effect on the lives of Cambodia's 85 percent rurally-based population.