DefinePK

Abstract

Military government in Myanmar is often considered most durable and powerful military rule in the world. Since 1962, the Junta has been ruling the country facing a lot of internal and external challenges and succeeded to consolidate its rule under various titles (Burma Socialist Programme Party , State Law and Order Restoration Council, and State Peace and Development Council) until 2011. This paper attempts to find out the distinctive factors that contributed to the military’s ability to prolong its rule using authoritarian regime consolidation theory. It argues that the junta had strengthened its regime by applying a series of management policies such as establishing patronage network with different civilian sections of people, emphasising national ideology, directing coercive mechanism against anti-government forces, launching educational propaganda, applying media censorship, establishing a monopoly of power under a self-written Constitution, receiving external aid and assistance, etc. It is wholly a qualitative work based on secondary data sources and follows the historical and content analysis approach.