Becoming citizens: Policy feedback and the transformation of the Thai rice farmer
Over the past twenty years, Thailand’s rice farmers have become one of the
country’s most important and active political constituencies, a sharp
contrast from the previous decades wherein they were treated with neglect or
even derision by the Thai political elite. These “political peasants” now
actively advocate for and successfully receive extensive subsidies from both
authoritarian and democratic governments. What has driven this change? In
this essay, we draw on theories of the policy feedback loop wherein policies
yield both material and cognitive benefits, which change the political
behavior of populations. We argue that the Thaksin Shinawatra government’s
(2001-2006) paddy pledging policy altered the mindset of Thai rice farmers,
creating a new form of social contract between the rural poor and the state.
We demonstrate this by tracing the process through which farmers’ political
behavior changed, drawing on a variety of evidence, including electoral data,
secondary sources, an original survey, focus groups, and interviews with Thai
farmers. The paper provides additional understanding regarding the mechanisms
through which Thai politics has changed since 2001. On a broader scale, these
findings suggest the potential of public policy to create enduring political
communities among rural populations.
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