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"Democratization Timor-Leste."
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Avoiding the Political Resource Curse: Evidence from a Most-Likely Case
Why do some countries escape the political resource curse while others do not? Most scholars argue that avoiding the claimed anti-democratic effects of natural resources, especially oil, largely depends on the quality of pre-existing political institutions and/or the effectiveness of contemporary resource management institutions. Drawing on the most-likely case of Timor-Leste, one of the world’s most oil-dependent countries that nevertheless successfully consolidated democracy, we challenge these dominant theories and highlight new important factors to consider. We show that Timor-Leste did not avoid the curse because of good pre-existing political institutions, good natural resource governance institutions, or an otherwise favorable environment for democracy. Instead, we find that the ideological beliefs of major political actors, their strong popular legitimacy, the absence of a hegemonic actor among them, as well as the approaches of external actors, have produced a consolidated democracy despite strong incentives for the development of authoritarianism. These findings highlight the importance of ideology and agency, of the composition of independence movements, and of constructive international engagement, in particular at critical historical junctures. In short, even countries facing serious political and economic challenges can avoid the political resource curse, and both scholars and policymakers should consider a broader approach to the phenomenon.
Journal Article
Harnessing Lisan in Peacebuilding: Development of the Legal Framework Related to Traditional Governance Mechanisms in Timor-Leste
This article contributes to the discourse on hybridity by reviewing the development of the legal framework related to traditional governance mechanisms in Timor-Leste in the twenty years since independence in 2002. It analyzes how this framework has contributed to nurturing governance in the country and argues that traditional governance mechanisms have had a considerable role in improving governance since independence. It is also argued that with regulation and proper support from stakeholders, a traditional governance system can facilitate democratization, and that the host community can become the driver of positive change.
Journal Article
Catholic Democratization
In this article, I compare the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines and in Timor-Leste in the 1980s and 1990s in discussing the extent to which transnational religious networks have been a factor in the capacity of the Church to advance a democratization agenda. Religious actors have influenced and shaped the structural and operational parameters of democratization in many parts of the world. Political theorist Samuel Huntington (1991) has observed that Roman Catholic religious teachings since the 1930s have corresponded to what has been described as the ‘Catholic wave’ of democratization. How can we situate the Philippines and Timor-Leste—the two most predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia—within this scholarship? What roles do religious networks play in community-based adaptation strategies, particularly in the context of nation-state formation in postcolonial and post-conflict situations? I pursue these questions by framing a comparative analysis around two thematic currents. The first explores the sociopolitical ramifications of the Roman Catholic Church as an inherently networked institution. I consider the notion of Catholicism as a global interconnection of clerical hierarchies that recognize pontifical authority as a personification of the unity of the Church. The second reconsiders the notion that the political interventions of the Church are tantamount to and coterminous with an endorsement of a particular form of political governance, in this case liberal democracy, as indicated in the ‘Catholic wave’ thesis. Instead of assuming that Church leaders homogeneously favour liberal democracy, I consider the emphasis by the Second Vatican Council on protecting the dignity of the human person, particularly that of the poor, and how this emphasis conditions the political agency of the Church in both countries.
Journal Article
Timor-Leste’s Challenged Political Process
As 2017 unfolded, Timor-Leste appeared to be consolidating its democratic embrace, with peaceful, locally organized democratic elections. Medium- to longer-term prospects for the recently independent country, however, were more ambiguous, with the country’s reliance on oil receipts being tested against still low levels of development. This article proposes that, despite a decade of stability, material improvement has been limited for many of Timor-Leste’s people and exacerbated by growing perceptions of corruption among the country’s elite. Timor-Leste’s social and political stability, therefore, by conventional criteria, appeared vulnerable and its democracy potentially fragile. All of this was exacerbated by the formation of a minority government which failed to achieve the type of inclusion that would have secured a higher degree of political certainty and stability. Instead, the majority opposition formed a political bloc to challenge the government’s programme, including its budget, voting it down twice and hence establishing grounds for the formation of a new government or fresh elections. Set against increasingly confrontational rhetoric, the country’s political stability was, by the end of 2017, in tatters, with a return to the type of bitter divisions that marked the political environment just over a decade ago.
Journal Article
At War's End
All fourteen major peacebuilding missions launched between 1989 and 1999 shared a common strategy for consolidating peace after internal conflicts: immediate democratization and marketization. Transforming war-shattered states into market democracies is basically sound, but pushing this process too quickly can have damaging and destabilizing effects. The process of liberalization is inherently tumultuous, and can undermine the prospects for stable peace. A more sensible approach to post-conflict peacebuilding would seek, first, to establish a system of domestic institutions that are capable of managing the destabilizing effects of democratization and marketization within peaceful bounds and only then phase in political and economic reforms slowly, as conditions warrant. Peacebuilders should establish the foundations of effective governmental institutions prior to launching wholesale liberalization programs. Avoiding the problems that marred many peacebuilding operations in the 1990s will require longer-lasting and, ultimately, more intrusive forms of intervention in the domestic affairs of these states. This book was first published in 2004.
eBook
The Indonesia-Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship: Enhancing Bilateral Relations at the Expense of Justice
International justice is characterized by the global articulation of basic human rights and peremptory norms outlawing crimes against humanity. In the twenty-first century, an international obligation of states to pursue individuals who bear responsibility for gross violations of human rights has formalized. Since the 1999 independence referendum, Timor-Leste struggled to achieve substantive justice for the human rights violations committed during Indonesia's 25-year de facto administration. Timor-Leste provides a unique case study on the international dimensions of pursuing justice in a post-conflict transitional context, particularly as many alleged perpetrators of rights violations have been shielded by Indonesia. This presents a challenge for Timor-Leste in balancing its various international and domestic priorities: while domestic political order and rule of law necessitates the pursuit of substantive justice, Timor-Leste's external security interests require a positive relationship with Indonesia. This article examines the world's first bilateral Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the Indonesia-Timor-Leste Commission of Truth and Friendship. It then analyses the implementation of the Commission's recommendations by Indonesia and Timor-Leste. The paper argues that the Commission was primarily a political mechanism designed to support international priorities rather than substantive justice.
Journal Article