Hostname: page-component-77f85d65b8-6pvrj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-03-26T11:46:16.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pre-emptive Constitution-Making: Authoritarian Constitutionalism and the Military in Myanmar

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Melissa Crouch Open the ORCID record for Melissa Crouch [Opens in a new window]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Constitutions are an important feature of many authoritarian regimes. But what role do they in fact perform in processes of authoritarian regime stabilization and legitimation? Much of the contemporary literature focuses on authoritarian constitutionalism in transitions away from constitutional democracy. This article considers the opposite scenario: pre-emptive constitution-making as a mechanism of authoritarian constitutionalism to contain a potential transition toward constitutional democracy. This is illustrated through the case of Myanmar. Since the 1960s, Myanmar has experienced successive periods of direct military rule without a constitution, followed since 2011 by a new constitution. Adding to the comparative literature on constitutions in authoritarian regimes, this article explains how pre-emptive constitution-making limits a transition to liberal democracy and contributes to authoritarian-regime resilience. This article further identifies “military-state” constitutionalism as a variation of authoritarian constitutionalism in Myanmar. The case of Myanmar offers comparative insights into the ways constitutions are used to contain transitions to constitutional democracy and illustrates the varieties inherent in authoritarian constitutionalism.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 54 , Issue 2 , June 2020 , pp. 487 - 515
Copyright
© 2020 Law and Society Association.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

I would like to thank Theunis Roux, Bronwen Morgan and Benjamin Schonthal for their comments and the three anonymous reviewers and the editor for their useful suggestions. I would like to thank the participants of the Comparative Constitutional Law Roundtable at the University of New South Wales in December 2018 for their comments on this article, including Luis Weis, Tarun Khaitan, Will Partlett, and Ros Dixon.

References

References

Albertus, Michael and Menaldo, Victor A. 2012. “Dictators as Founding Fathers? The Role of Constitutions under Autocracy.” Economics and Politics 24: 279–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aziz, Sadaf. 2018. The Constitution of Pakistan: A Contextual Analysis. Hart Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barros, Robert. 2002. Constitutionalism and Dictatorship: Pinochet, the Junta and the 1980 Constitution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biddulph, Sarah. 2018. “Democratic Centralism and Administration in China.” In Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia, edited by Gillespie, J. et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brown, Archie. 2009. The Rise and Fall of Communism. Great Britain: Random House.Google Scholar
Brown, Nathan. 2002. Constitutions in a Non-Constitutional World: Arab Basic Laws and the Prospects for Accountable Government. New York: State University of New York Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Callahan, Mary. 1998. “On Time Warps and Warped Time: Lessons from Burma's ‘Democratic Era’.” In Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future, edited by Rotberg, Robert I. and World Peace Foundation, 49–67. Washington, DC: Cambridge, MA: Brookings Institution Press.Google Scholar
Chanock, Martin. 2016. “African Constitutionalism from the Bottom Up.” In The New Legalism Realism, Vol. II, edited by Klug, Heinz and Merry, Sally Engel, 13–31. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheesman, Nick. 2012. “How an Authoritarian Regime in Burma Used Special Courts to Defeat Judicial Independence.” Law & Society Rev. 45: 801–31.Google Scholar
Cheesman, Nick. 2015. Opposing the Rule of Law: How Myanmar's Courts Make Law and Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheesman, Nick. 2017. “How in Myanmar “National Races” Came to Surpass Citizenship and Exclude Rohingya.” J. of Contemporary Asia 47: 461–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheesman, Nick. 2016. “Senior General Mahur Thray Sithu Min Aung Hlaing addresses Passing-out Parade of 58th Intake of the Defence Services Academy.” 3 December, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/seniorgeneralminaunghlaing/posts/senior-general-mahar-thray-sithu/1404290682938749/ (accessed 10 December 2017).Google Scholar
Cheesman, Nick. 2017a. “Duties and actions must be in line with the law.” 26 September, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/seniorgeneralminaunghlaing/posts/duties-and-actions-must-be/1711630188871462/ (accessed 10 December 2017).Google Scholar
Cheesman, Nick. 2017b. “Greetings of Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing at the Second Anniversary of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement—NCA.” 15 October, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/seniorgeneralminaunghlaing/posts/greetings-of-commander-in-chief-of-defence-services-senior-general-min-aung-hlai/1739998909367923/ (accessed 10 December 2017).Google Scholar
Cheesman, Nick. 2017d. “Try to Become Decent Military Engineers for the Country and Tatmadaw.” 8 December, https://www.facebook.com/seniorgeneralminaunghlaing/posts/try-to-become-decent-military-engineers-for-the-country-and-tatmadawnay-pyi-taw-/1798074093560404/ (accessed 10 December 2017).Google Scholar
Corrales, Javier. 2015. “Autocratic Legalism in Venezuela.” J. of Democracy 26: 37–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crouch, Melissa. 2018a. “Democrats, Dictators and Constitutional Dialogue: Myanmar's Constitutional Tribunal.” International J. of Constitutional Law 16: 421–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crouch, Melissa. 2018b. “The Prerogative Writs as Constitutional Transfer.” Oxford J. of Legal Studies 38: 653–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crouch, Melissa. 2019. The Constitution of Myanmar: A Contextual Analysis. Hart Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crouch, Melissa. 2020a. “Authoritarian Straightjacket or Vehicle for Democratic Transition? The Risky Struggle to Change Myanmar's Constitution.” In From Parchment to Practise: Implementing New Constitutions, edited by Ginsburg, Tom and Huq, Aziz. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Crouch, Melissa. 2020b. “States of Legal Denial: How the State in Myanmar Uses Law to Exclude the Rohingya.” J. of Contemporary Asia 50.Google Scholar
Declaration 1/90, dated 27 July (1990, issued by State Law and Order Restoration Council.Google Scholar
Duchaeck, Ivo. 1973. Power Maps: Comparative Politics of Constitutions. Clio Press Santa Barbara California.Google Scholar
Egreteau, Renaud. 2016. Caretaking Democratization. London: Hurst Publishers.Google Scholar
Eleven Myanmar. 2017. “Tatmadaw has Bounded Duty to Safeguard State's Independence and Sovereignty.” 12 February, http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/politics/12632 (accessed 10 December 2017).Google Scholar
Elkins, Zachary, Ginsburg, Tom, and Melton, James. 2014. “The Content of Authoritarian Constitutions.” In Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes, edited by Ginsburg, Tom and Simpser, Alberto, 141–62. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Facebook. 2018. “Removing Myanmar Officials.” 27 August 2018, Facebook Newsroom, https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/08/removing-myanmar-officials/ (accessed 5 September 2018).Google Scholar
Fleishmann, Klaus, ed. 1989. Documents on Communism in Burma 1945–47. Hamburg: Mitteilungen des Instituts fur Asienkunde.Google Scholar
Garth, Bryant and Sarat, Austin, eds. 1998. How Does Law Matter? Chicago: Northeastern University Press.Google Scholar
Geddes, Barbara, White, Joseph, and Frantz, Erica. 2018. How Dictatorships Work: Power, Personalisation and Collapse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillespie, John, et al., eds. 2018. Socialist Law in Socialist East Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom and Moustafa, Tamir, eds. 2008. Rule by Law: The Politics of Courts in Authoritarian Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsburg, Tom and Simpser, Alberto, eds. 2014. Constitutions in Authoritarian Regimes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Haggard, Stephan and Kaufman, Robert R. 2018. Dictators and Democrats: Masses, Elites and Regime Change. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hilbink, Lisa. 2007. Judges Beyond Politics in Democracy and Dictatorship: Lessons from Chile. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horowitz, Donald L. 2012. Constitutional Change and Democracy in Indonesia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Houtman, Gustaaf. 1999. Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.Google Scholar
Huntington, Samuel. 1957. The Soldier and the State: The Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Hutchful, Eboe. 1991. “Reconstructing Political Space: Militarism and Constitutionalism.” In State and Constitutionalism: An African Debate on Democracy, edited by Shivji, Issa G., 183–201. Harare: SAPES Books.Google Scholar
Isiksel, Turkuler. 2013. “Between Text and Context: Turkey's Tradition of Authoritarian Constitutionalism.” International J. of Constitutional Law 11: 702–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaungbon, Minye. 1994. Our Three Main National Causes. Yangon: News and Periodical Enterprise.Google Scholar
Kean, Thomas. 2014. “Myanmar's Parliament: From Scorn to Significance.” In Debating Democratisation in Myanmar, edited by Cheesman, N. et al. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Klug, Heinz. 2000. Constituting Democracy: Law, Globalism and South Africa's Political Reconstruction. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ko Ni, U. 2013. Pwesibone achekan ubade-ko, Beh Lo Pyin Kya Hma-le. Yangon: no publisher (in Burmese).Google Scholar
Kornai, Janos. 1992. The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Krygier, Martin. 1991. “Marxism and the Rule of Law: Reflections after the Collapse of Communism.” Law & Social Inquiry 15: 707–30.Google Scholar
Krygier, Martin. 1999. “Institutional Optimism, Cultural Pessimism and the Rule of Law.” In The Rule of Law after Communism: Problems and Prospects in East and Central Europe, edited by Krygier, Martin and Czarnota, Adam, 264–78. Routledge.Google Scholar
Landau, David. 2013. “Abusive Constitutionalism.” UC Davis Law Rev 47: 189–260.Google Scholar
Law, David and Versteeg, Mila. 2013. “Sham Constitutions.” California Law Rev. 101: 863–952.Google Scholar
Linter, Bertil. 1990. The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Burma. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linz, Juan J. and Stephan, Alfred. 1978. The Breakdown of Democratic Regimes. The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Loewenstein, Karl. 1957. Political Power and the Government Process. University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Massoud, Mark. 2013. Law's Fragile State: Colonial, Authoritarian and Humanitarian Legacies in South. Sudan: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maung Aung Myoe. 1999. “Military Doctrine and Strategy in Myanmar: A Historical Perspective.” Working Paper No. 339, Strategic and Defence Studies, ANU, Canberra.Google Scholar
Maung Aung Myoe. 2009. Building the Tatmadaw: Myanmar Armed Forces since 1948. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Min Maung Maung. 1993. The Tatmadaw and its Leadership Role in National Politics. Guardian Press, News and Periodicals Enterprise of the Ministry of Information.Google Scholar
Ministry of Defence. 1960. The National Ideology and the Role of the Defence Services. Yangon. (in Burmese and English).Google Scholar
Moustafa, Tamir. 2003. “Law Versus the State: The Judicialisation of Politics in Egypt.” Law & Social Inquiry 28: 883–930.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moustafa, Tamir. 2007. The Struggle for Constitutional Power: Law, Politics and Economic Development in Egypt. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moustafa, Tamir. 2014. “Law and Courts in Authoritarian Regimes.” Annual Rev. of Law & Social Sciences 10: 281–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakanishi, Yoshihiro. 2013. Strong Soldiers, Failed Revolution: The State and the Military in Burma 1962–88. Singapore: NUS Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Negretto, Gabriel L. 2012. “Replacing and Amending Constitutions: The Logic of Constitutional Change in Latin America.” Law & Society Rev. 46: 749–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Negretto, Gabriel L. 2013. Making Constitutions: Presidents, Parties and Institutional Choice in Latin America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newberg, Paula. 1995. Judging the State: Courts and Constitutional Politics in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nonet, Philippe and Selznick, Philip. 2001. Law and Society in Transition: Toward Responsive Law. New Brunswick: Transaction. (First published 1978).Google Scholar
Nordlingger, Eric A. 1977. Soldiers in Politics: Military Coups and Governments. Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Office of the Tatmadaw Archives. 2000. Tatmadaw Thamain [History of the Tatmadaw]. Volume 7 (1988–1993). Yangon: Museum of Military History and Office of Tatmadaw Archives.Google Scholar
Office of the Tatmadaw Archives. 2002. Tatmadaw Thamain [History of the Tatmadaw]. Volume 8 (1994–1997). Yangon: Museum of Military History and Office of Tatmadaw Archives.Google Scholar
Okoth-Ogendo, H. W. O. 1993. “Constitutions without Constitutionalism: Reflections on an African Political Paradox.” In Constitutionalism and Democracy: Transitions in the Contemporary World, edited by Greenberg, D. et al. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Osakwe, Christopher. 1979. “The Theories and Realities of Modern Soviet Constitutional Law: An Analysis of the 1977 USSR Constitution.” Univ. of Pennsylvania Law Rev. 127: 1350–437.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perlmutter, Amos. 1977. The Military and Politics in Modern Times: On Professionals, Praetorians and Revolutionary Soldiers. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Pyae Thet Phyo and Swan Ye Htut. 2015. “Yellow Ribbons Seek an End to Militarised Judiciary.” The Myanmar Times, September 10, www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/nay-pyi-taw/16400-yellow-ribbons-seek-anend-to-militarised-judiciary.html (accessed 11 December 2017).Google Scholar
Rajah, Jothie. 2012. Authoritarian Rule of Law: Legislation, Discourse and Legitimacy in Singapore. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramet, Sabrina P. 1992. Nationalism and Federalism in Yugoslavia 1961–1991, 2nd ed.. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Sartori, Giovanni. 1962. “Constitutionalism: A Preliminary Discussion.” American Political Science Rev. LVI: 53–64.Google Scholar
Scheppele, Kim. 2018. “Autocratic Legalism.” Univ. of Chicago Law Rev. 85: 545–83.Google Scholar
Selth, Andrew. 2017. “All Going According to Plan: The Armed Forces and the Government in Myanmar.” Griffith Asia Institute. Regional Outlook Paper No. 54, 12.Google Scholar
Somek, Alexander. 2003. “Authoritarian Constitutionalism: Austrian Constitutional Doctrine 1933–1938 and its Legacy.” In Darker Legacies of Law in Europe: The Shadow of National Socialism and Fascism, edited by Joerges, C. and Ghaleigh, N. N. Oxford: Hart Publishing.Google Scholar
Svolik, Milan. 2012. The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tate, C. Neal and Vallinder, Torbjorn, eds. 1995. The Global Expansion of Judicial Power. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
The Global New Light of Myanmar (TGNLM). 2015. “Speech delivered by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services, Senior General Thayaysithu Min Aung Hlaing at the parade of the 70th Armed Forces Day held on 27th March 2015.” March 27, http://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com (accessed 11 December 2017).Google Scholar
The Global New Light of Myanmar (TGNLM). 2016. “Greetings extended by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing at the Union Peace Conference—21st century Panglong.” September 2, http://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com (accessed 11 December 2017).Google Scholar
The New Light of Myanmar (TNLM). 1993. “Lt-Gen.Myo Nyunt's Opening Speech 7 June.” June 6. Online Myanmar/Burma Library.Google Scholar
The Union of Myanmar. 2015. Defence White Paper 2015, December. Naypyidaw: The Republic of the Union of Myanmar.Google Scholar
Tin Maung Maung Than. 2004. “The Essential Tension: Democratization and the Unitary State in Myanmar (Burma).” South East Asia Research 12: 187–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tin Maung Maung Than. 2007. State Dominance in Myanmar (Singapore: ISEAS).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tushnet, Mark. 2015. “Authoritarian Constitutionalism.” Cornell Law Rev. 100: 391–461.Google Scholar
Uibopuu, Henn-Juri. 1979. “Soviet Federalism under the New Soviet Constitution.” Rev. of Socialist Law 5: 171–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Uibopuu, Henn-Juri. 1985. “Separation of Powers.” In Encyclopedia of Soviet Law, 2nd ed., edited by Feldbrugge, F. J. M., Vanden Berg, G. P., and Simons, W. B., 695. Dordrecht: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.Google Scholar
United Nations. 2018. Report on Independent International Fact-Finding Mission in Myanmar (A/HRC/39/64), 25 August. https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/report-independent-international-fact-finding-mission-myanmar-ahrc3964-advance (accessed 26 August 2018).Google Scholar
Varol, Ozan. 2013. “The Military as the Guardian of Constitutional Democracy.” Columbia J. of Transnational Law 51: 547–625.Google Scholar
Varol, Ozan. (2014–2015. “Stealth Authoritarianism.” Iowa Law Rev. 100: 1673–743.Google Scholar
Walton, Matthew. 2017. Buddhism, Politics and Political Thought in. Myanmar: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Win, Chit. 2016. “The Hluttaw and Conflicts in Myanmar.” In Conflict in Myanmar: War, Politics, Religion, edited by Cheesman, N. and Farrelly, N., 199–220. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar
Win, Chit and Kean, Thomas. 2017. “Communal Conflict in Myanmar.” J. of Contemporary Asia 1.Google Scholar
Win, Mya. 1992. Tatmadaw's Traditional Role in National Politics. Yangon: News and Periodicals Enterprise, Ministry of Information.Google Scholar
Zan, Myint. 1999. “Law and Legal Culture, Constitutions and Constitutionalism in Burma.” In East Asia: Human Rights, Nation-Building, Trade, edited by Tay, Alice. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft.Google Scholar
Zan, Myint. 2012. “The New Supreme Court and the Constitutional Tribunal.” In Myanmar's Transitions: Openings, Obstacles and Opportunities, edited by Cheesman, N. et al. Singapore: ISEAS.Google Scholar

Legislative Records (in Burmese)

PDH2014-11:25. 13 November 2014. Report of the 25th Day of the Eleventh Plenary Session of the First Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Naypyidaw. Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.Google Scholar
PDH2014-11:27. 17 November 2014. Report of the 27th Day of the Eleventh Plenary Session of the First Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Naypyidaw. Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.Google Scholar
PDH2014-11:29. 19 November 2014. Report of the 29th Day of the Eleventh Plenary Session of the First Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Naypyidaw. Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.Google Scholar
PDH2014-11:30. 20 November 2014. Report of the 30th Day of the Eleventh Plenary Session of the First Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Naypyidaw. Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.Google Scholar
PDH2014-11:32. 24 November 2014. Report of the 32nd Day of the Eleventh Plenary Session of the First Pyidaungsu Hluttaw. Naypyidaw. Pyidaungsu Hluttaw.Google Scholar