Knowledge Bank

This study analyzes the current liberalization of Burma within the democratization frameworks presented by Samuel P. Huntington (1991) and Juan J. Linz and Alfred C. Stepan (1996). Although liberalization in the direction of democratization began with the 2010 national election, an official democratic transition phase did not begin until the parliamentary by-elections in 2012. I use the frameworks of these scholars to present where Burma currently is in transition and what hinders the country from progress in its democratization. To explain the timing and reasons behind Burma’s democratization, I introduce independent variables from both Huntington’s Third Wave literature and international relations theories on sovereignty and legitimacy. These variables will be used to show how actors were able to use ASEAN, the regional organization encompassing Burma, to produce liberal change within the country.