ABSTRACT
Senior General Than Shwe, Head of State and Chairman of the military junta known as the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), has indicated that Myanmar had a seven-stage roadmap pointing the path toward becoming a “discipline-flourishing democracy.”1 A critical step in that direction, according to the junta, took place in May 2008, when a national referendum supposedly validated a new, military-induced constitution, which is to take effect following multi-party elections in 2010. This process will affect both internal and international events in the years ahead. The issues are, however, rather more complex. How does one define a “discipline-
flourishing democracy”? How does the constitution support or undercut that condition? What might the Burmese people and the world expect from those elections and the government that will follow? And what will the role of the military be in Burmese society, considering that they have ruled that state since 1962 and held critical elements of power since Burma’s independence in 1948? And finally, how do regional security issues affect Myanmar’s capacity to reach that goal? In essence, is the emphasis on disciplined democracy or flourishing democracy?
