ABSTRACT
This chapter looks into three dimensions of policing as elements of establishing social control: legal-institutional, physical and ideational. It provides an analysis of Myanmar's praetorian regime, the lack of space for political activity and the state's response to burgeoning protest. The chapter discusses the slow transformation of political space due to liberalizing reforms of the still-quasi-military regime. It describes the legal changes thus far and broadly maps the evolving protest landscape. The chapter examines three protest incidents in detail: the mobilization for constitutional reform, the Letpadaung copper mine protests and the mobilization of ultra-Buddhist monks. While government authorities have become used to a certain type of protest, authorities still try to narrow political space through the use of old laws, repression and stifling of criticism directed at the military. In September 2003, the military announced its roadmap to a 'disciplined democracy', in which it promised to transfer power back to an elected government.
