Thomas Seitz is an associate professor of international studies at the University of Wyoming’s School of Politics, Public Affairs & International Studies. He is working in Thailand and Indonesia this year on an ASEAN Research Award, studying both countries’ transitions to democracy in the context of their respective political cultures — what people see as ‘normal’ in the politics of their societies and why. In doing so, he is extending a long-running project from Indonesia into Thailand. Through in-depth interviews, he is assessing popular attitudes toward and expectations of democracy and the impact of culture on these. Through interviews with government and party officials, he seeks to examine culture’s role in building a democratic ethos in these transitional democracies.

This project is based at Universitas Brawijaya in Malang, East Java, and Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, with additional support from Universitas Diponegoro in Semarang, Central Java.