ABSTRACT
The Revolutionary Council almost from its inception considered itself obsolescent. The newly promulgated constitution of the Burma Socialist Programme party was an interim one until a more permanent mode of control could be formulated. The formation of a new constitution to replace rule by decree, in effect since 1962, was a complex process. The military established mass support for its ideological position prior to the time it was prepared to allow any broadening of the political process. The military threat from U Nu turned out to be modest, but its political potential may have caused the military some anxiety. On March 2, 1974, the twelfth anniversary of the military coup, the Revolutionary Council dissolved itself, and the new government was officially installed. The military leadership may have actually believed that it could mobilize mass support for its policies through this exhaustive effort involving the total populace in the illusion, if not the reality, of shared decision making.
