Do Parliaments Help or Hurt Economic Progress in Democratizing Countries? The Case of Myanmar, with Notes on Indonesia

Monday, October 12, 2015
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
(Pacific)
Philippines Conference Room
Encina Hall, Third Floor, Central, C330
616 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305
Speaker: 
  • Lex Rieffel

Political life in most democratic systems centers on the presidency or the parliament.  In countries that have begun to shift from authoritarian to democratic rule, American and Western aid programs typically place a high priority on strengthening the capacities of parliaments.  Superficial evidence in Myanmar and Indonesia suggests that these efforts by democratic donors have contributed to the emergence of legislatures that are more of an obstacle to economic progress than a driver of it.  Lex Rieffel will offer his perspective on this phenomenon in Myanmar and Indonesia with particular attention to Myanmar in the run-up to its November 8 election.  The two countries will also be compared with regard to geography, ethnic conflict, and communal tension, and their implications for the political process.

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Lex Rieffel has written widely on the political economies of Myanmar and Indonesia.  His latest publication is "Improving the Performance of the State Economic Enterprise Sector in Myanmar" (ISEAS Perspective #36, 2015).  Notable among his many other writings are:  Too Much Too Soon? The Dilemma of Foreign Aid to Myanmar/Burma (co-authored, 2013); Myanmar/Burma: Inside Challenges, Outside Interests (edited, 2010); and Out of Business and On Budget: The Challenge of Military Financing in Indonesia (co-authored, 2007).  His career prior to joining Brookings in 2002 included positions with the Institute of International Finance, the U.S. Treasury Department, and USAID.  Universities where he has taught courses in economics and finance include Johns Hopkins (SAIS), George Washington (Elliott School), and the University of Yangon.  His MA in law and diplomacy and his BA in economics are respectively from Tufts (Fletcher School) and Princeton.

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