Dynamics of Democracy in Timor-Leste: The Birth of a Democratic Nation, 1999-2012
Dynamics of Democracy in Timor-Leste: The Birth of a Democratic Nation, 1999-2012
by Rui Feijo
Amsterdam University Press, 2016 Cloth: 978-90-8964-804-4 | eISBN: 978-90-485-2633-8 Library of Congress Classification DS649.7F45 2016 Dewey Decimal Classification 959.8704
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The Indonesian province of Timor-Leste made international news when it decided to break away from Indonesia in 1999. The decision sparked deadly rampages by pro-integrationist militias, violence that only abated when the UN sent a force to maintain peace and help ease the way to actual independence. This book details the political history of Timor-Leste, both preceding and following the declaration of independence, and it uses the events, consequences, and lessons of that period to help us understand what to expect for similar experiments in democracy building elsewhere in the world.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Rui Feijo (DPhil, Oxon, 1984) Assistant Researcher at CES (Coimbra) has been involved with Timorese political life since independence. In 2005-06 he was UN Advisor to the President of the Republic. Apart from several articles in international journals and book chapters, he has published Timor-Leste: Paisagem Tropical com Gente Dentro (Lisbon, 2006) and more recently edited O Semi-presidencialismo Timorense (Coimbra 2014)Nieuw boek (Martyrs: Ancestors and Heroes):Dr. Rui Graça Feijó. Researcher, Centre Social Studies, Coimbra. He authored Dynamics of Democracy in Timor-Leste (2016); co-edited Transformations in Independent Timor-Leste (2017)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword: Revisiting a success story with critical eyesChapter 1: Democracy in the 21st century: lineages and configurations of an impure conceptChapter 2: Assessing the odds: could Timor-Leste become a Democracy?Chapter 3: Constitutionalism Old and New in the ?UN Kingdom? of Timor-LesteChapter 4: Elections in a Young Democracy: popular voice and control.Chapter 5: Semi-presidentialism with 'independent' presidents: political inclusiveness and democratic consolidationChapter 6: Grassroots Democracy: building a decentralized state where worlds meetEpilogue: After 2012: new challenges to the consolidation of Democracy