• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.51-74
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• 2009

It has often been said that Myanmar is the most profound Buddhist country in the world. That may well be true, but the brand of Buddhism practised in this isolated land is unique on the face of the globe. Myanmar Buddhism is theoretically Theravada Buddhism, a sect of Buddhism adhering most closely to the Buddha's teachings, and is the dominant form of Buddhism throughout Southeast Asia. The customary law also has an indissoluble connection with Buddhism in the Burmese society. The family customs and law have been put in statutory form with Damathat. And Damathat which is a statute law plays a important role as a mirror of the popular society. In Burmese society, the network which connects an individual and an individual fulfills its more function than the relatives and families act with group. The human relation which is generally completed within home, for example, parents and children, brothers and sisters, husband and wife and so on is situated as a center of the network which spreads outside home also in Burmese society. And Burmese society is 'khin' and 'ana' society. Burmese people positively extend the human relation through the way of thinking of Myanmar language 'khin' translated 'intimate', but they also put on the brakes the extending human relation without ending by keeping its distance through the way of thinking of Myanmar language 'ana' translated 'refuse courteously.'

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.161-196
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• 2018

The major object of this study is to analyze the political development of Myanmar's civilian government on the concept of defective democracy, and to investigate the main actors who delayed or stymied political development and their interrelation. In doing so, this study suggests the tasks required for political development overcoming the current political structure and behavior. The civilian government, which was launched in 2016, failed to achieve positive political development by following the behavior of military authoritarianism in terms of exercise of power and decision making structure. On the perspective of the government, delegative democracy and domain democracy have been strengthening since one person has taken over all political power and hesitate to take horizontal accountability for each power organizations. The military, which is responsible for national defence and security seeks illiberal democracy and exclusive democracy, keeping on an undemocratic constitution by the military and Burman ethnocentrism. The reasons why defective democracy has been occurred are that the lack of a group to run a democratic institutions and the limitation of power structure that fails to adhere to the principle of civilian control to the military due to long-term military rule. Therefore, there is a need for military's come back to barracks and transform the power structure to democratic of the civilian government which is tamed an authoritarian order for the political development in Myanmar. In order to achieve this, this study concludes that setting up a empowered democratic government is required.