Pollwatching, Elections and Civil Society in Southeast Asia (Leeds Studies in Democratization)

by William A. Callahan

"As Pollwatching, Elections and Civil Society in Southeast Asia shows through in-depth studies of Thailand and the Philippines, political corruption has been a major point of contention within Southeast Asian countries for decades. The study shows how Thai and Filipino activists responded to the widespread electoral fraud by forming independent election monitoring organizations. Callahan's participatory research on the 1995 general election in Thailand provides a detailed description and analysis of the activities of PollWatch, the election monitoring organization in Thailand. PollWatch is then compared with similar Non-Governmental Organizations in the Philippines such as NAMFREL, and with election practices in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The study shows how election monitoring groups are involved in activities far wider than simple election law enforcement. They are part of grassroots action via social movements and the construction of "alternative political cultures" as well.