Myanmar’s Shifts in Governance: Too Little, Too Slowly

• In Event: Authoritarianism in Southeast Asian Politics

Abstract

What are perceptions of the Myanmar public of the changes taking place during the regime transformation in the country? Aung San Suu Kyi’s prestige in the international community has fallen considerably recently, but has she experienced similar declines domestically? For instance, journalist coverage of Myanmar notes that public support for Aung San Suu Kyi remains high despite her fall in the eyes of the West. Using publicly available public opinion results and interview data gathered in summer 2018, I argue that there is a larger feeling of disillusionment than is often recognized internationally. Although college students, long the most active proponents of reform in Myanmar, remain largely content with her performance, older residents feel that there has not been enough genuine change in the country. Indeed, one respondent noted that although things are better now than they were ten years ago following the Saffron Revolution, they felt there was actually greater freedom of expression and protection of dissent at the tailend of military regime.

Author

• Petra Hendrickson, Centre College