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Consensus democracies outperform their majoritarian counterparts, but reform is difficult. From an institutional perspective, a dominant majority can block change. From a political culture perspective, democracy is endogenous to context. However, critical junctures can alter not only political configuration but also political culture. In Myanmar, the Bamar majority split following the 2021 military coup. One fragment aligned with coup leaders. Another, certainly larger, joined ethnic minorities in opposition and resistance. Did the coup inspire a shift toward consensus politics? This article looks before and after the coup at peak institutions and Facebook posts. Opposition institutions in the 2020s are more diverse than cabinets led by the National League for Democracy in the 2010s. Political discourse has shifted from democratic federalism, with a focus on centralized control, to federal democracy, with a centrifugal dynamic. These findings reveal significant change in a centralized authoritarian state long controlled by the Bamar majority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A model of pre-transitional justice that is focused on the critical 'torturer problem' is developed to tackle the political deadlock problem faced by Myanmar. The model is suitable for political negotiation, capable of generating discontinuities with an authoritarian past, and is legally and technically feasible.