*This article was first published in The Interpreter by the Lowy Institute We all desperately wanted Myanmar to be a democratic success story, myself included. In 2015, I witnessed the historical national election when the Aung San Suu Kyi’s political party won enough seats to form government. Five years later, on 8 November, people in Myanmar willContinue reading “Why Myanmar’s Elections Will be Neither Free, Fair nor Safe”
Author Archives: Melissa Crouch
UNSW ASEAN Conference
The UNSW ASEAN Conference 2020 begins this Saturday. With over 40 speakers, this student run initiative is designed to promote engagement and debate on key issues facing ASEAN. There are a series of online events held over three weeks with each day focusing on a specific pillar: 1. Socio-Cultural Pillar: Held on the 10th OctoberContinue reading “UNSW ASEAN Conference”
Webinar: Constitutional Democracy in Southeast Asia
On 25 August 2020, the Asia Forum in New Zealand will host a webinar on ‘The Crisis of Constitutional Democracy in Southeast Asia’ Guest Speaker: Melissa Crouch, UNSW Law Event Date: Tuesday 25th August 2020 Event Time: 5:00 pm-6:00 pm Event Location: *ONLINE EVENT* | Zoom Meeting. Zoom Meeting hosted by Asia Forum, Wellington. Register in advance for this meeting:Continue reading “Webinar: Constitutional Democracy in Southeast Asia”
Public Lecture: Southern Constitutionalism
Public Lecture: ‘Southern Constitutionalism: The View from Myanmar and the Region’ Hosted by Milda Istiqomah, Law Faculty, Brawijaya University, Indonesia Guest Speaker: A/Prof Melissa Crouch, UNSW Law Monday 24 August 2020, 9am Jakarta time (12pm Sydney time) Register via zoom: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJItdO6trT8uHdJJs6lBhzon38N45BEDzCJR
Southeast Asian democracies in declining health amid covid-19
*This piece first appeared in The Interpreter on 3 July 2020 The Covid-19 pandemic is impacting democracies in the Asia-Pacific region in ways that demand Australia’s attention. The ability to weather a crisis of this magnitude depends upon partnerships and collaboration – economic, social and political – with key countries in the region. These partnerships are moreContinue reading “Southeast Asian democracies in declining health amid covid-19”
Webinar: Dominion Constitutionalism
Webinar: 7 July 2020 On 7 July 2020, a webinar will be held to launch the symposium on New Dominion Constitutionalism for the International Journal of Constitutional Law (ICON) in issue 17:4, available here. The webinar will feature authors and editors of the symposium. This seminar will officially launch this symposium, introduce the concept and case studies of NewContinue reading “Webinar: Dominion Constitutionalism”
Asian Studies at the NLA
This week has been a low in government commitment to Asia literacy, with the National Library of Australia signalling it will make major cuts to its Asian Studies collection. See further details here: The Asia Society – Library Lockdown Edward Aspinall, Asia illiteracy, Inside Story Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Out of Asia Online petition Japan Foundation, Cuts to National Library of Australia AsiaContinue reading “Asian Studies at the NLA”
Covid-19 and Constitutionalism in Asia Webinar
Virtual Roundtables on Asian Law The first roundtable of the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore will be on “COVID-19 and Constitutionalism in Asia: Executive Power in A Time of Crisis” Date: May 27, 2020 10:00 AM in Singapore Speakers: 1) Kevin Tan, National University of Singapore 2) Yeh Jiunn-Rong, NationalContinue reading “Covid-19 and Constitutionalism in Asia Webinar”
Pre-emptive Constitution-making
My article on ‘Pre-emptive constitution-making: Authoritarian Constitutionalism and the Military in Myanmar” (2020) Law & Society Review 54(2) is now out Abstract: Constitutions are an important feature of many authoritarian regimes. But what role do they in fact perform in processes of authoritarian regime stabilization and legitimation? Much of the contemporary literature focuses on authoritarian constitutionalism in transitions awayContinue reading “Pre-emptive Constitution-making”
Series on Asian Studies in Australia
Ed Aspinall and I have launched a special blog series on the state of the field of Asian Studies on the Asian Currents blog of the Asian Studies Association of Australia. This looks across the disciplines (law, political science, international relations, anthropology, history); languages (Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Chinese) and area studies (Mainland Southeast Asia, Indonesia, South Asia,Continue reading “Series on Asian Studies in Australia”
Melissa Crouch 