[TimorLesteStudies] New Article: Democracy Old and New: The Interaction of Modern and Traditional Authority in East Timorese Local Government.

[Michael Leach]

Deborah Cummins and Michael Leach. 2012. Democracy Old andNew: The
Interaction of Modern and Traditional Authority in East Timorese
LocalGovernment. Asian Politics & Policy 4(1):89-104
This article examines the evolving relationship betweentraditional and
modern forms of political authority in local government inTimor-Leste.
The “clash of paradigms” between traditional and liberaldemocratic ideas
of legitimacy in Timor-Leste is widely considered to be animportant
issue for the stability of the nation-state as a whole, and integralto
engaging local communities in nation building, peace building,
anddemocratization. Drawing on fieldwork conducted by the authors in
Baucau, LosPalos, Viqueque, Venilale, and Ainaro in 2008–2009, we
examine the ways electedchefes de suku and chefes de aldeia are
interacting with traditionalauthorities at the local government level.
The findings suggest that theinteraction of modern and traditional
systems has produced several hybridmodels of local political authority
and legitimacy. Specifically, we identifythree models: two
“co-incumbency” models, and an “authorization” modelemphasizing a
separation of powers between traditional and modern authorities.
Asian Politics & Policy Special Issue. Timor-Leste: Challenges of
Postcolonial State Construction and Nation Building
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/aspp.2012.4.issue-1/issuetoc



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Associate Professor Michael Leach
Politics & Public Policy
Faculty of Life and Social Sciences
Swinburne University of Technology
PO Box 218 Hawthorn VIC 
AUSTRALIA 3122
Phone: +61 3 9214 5357
Fax: +61 3 9819 0821
mleach at swin.edu.au




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