From Assembly to Streets: Contentious Politics in Thailand (1991 - 2010).

Why do parliamentarians engage in extra-parliamentary social movements? Under what conditions do legislators take to the streets to demand a change in policy? This paper examines social movements in Thailand, all supported by Members of the Parliament (MPs), between the years 1973 and 2010. I argue that MPs pursue street politics as a strategy to enhance their own bargaining leverage vis-a-vis their legislative counterparts. Whether or not MPs engage in contentious politics depends upon three important factors: a) MPs' degree of agenda setting power within the legislature, b) the cost of mobilizing political support and c) the expected payoff of policy outcome. The case of Thailand will demonstrate that parliamentarians resort to street politics when the benefits (policy payoff) are greater than costs (mobilization and agenda powers). Lessons from the Thai case may challenge existing literature on social movements, which presupposes the bottom-up process, by suggesting that, in fact, the elite-mass relationship as related to movements are reverse. Furthermore, the Thai movements can provide valuable lessons as to the challenges of newly democratizing states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]