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List of contents
1. Pluralist Constitutions and the Southeast Asian Context
Jaclyn L. Neo and Bui Ngoc Son
2. Constitutionalising Multiple Pluralities in Malaysia
Dian A. H. Shah
3. The Imperative of Integrative Pluralist Constitutionalism: Going Beyond Formal Equality, Eschewing Rights, and Accommodation of Differences in Singapore
Eugene K B Tan
4. Pluralism in Brunei’s Constitution? Ethnicity, Religion and the Absolute Monarchy
Kerstin Steiner and Dominik M Müller
5. Indonesia’s Constitutional Responses to Plurality
Herlambang P. Wiratraman and Dian A. H. Shah
6. Myanmar’s Pluralist Constitution: Nation-Building versus State-Building
Nyi Nyi Kyaw
7. Pluralist Constitution in Cambodia
Taing Ratana
8. Constitutions in Ethnically Plural Societies: Laos and Vietnam
Bui Ngoc Son
9. Volcanic Constitution: How is Plurality Turning Against Constitutionalism in Thailand?
Apinop Atipiboonsin
10. The Philippine People Power Constitution: Social Cohesion through Integrated Diversity
Bryan Dennis Gabito Tiojanco
About the author
Jaclyn L Neo is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law at the National University of Singapore.Ngoc Son Bui is Professor of Asian Laws at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, UK.
Summary
This book examines the presence of ethnic, religious, political, and ideational pluralities in Southeast Asian societies and how their respective constitutions respond to these pluralities. Countries covered in this book are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The chapters examine: first, the range of pluralist constitutional values and ideas embodied in the constitutions; secondly, the pluralist sources of constitutional norms; thirdly, the design of constitutional structures responding to various pluralities; and fourthly, the construction and interpretation of bills of rights in response to existing pluralities. The ‘pluralist constitution’ is thus one that recognises internal pluralities within society and makes arrangements to accommodate, rather than eliminate, these pluralities.
Foreword
An original collection of essays examining how constitutional orders in individual Southeast Asian countries respond to a range of ethnic, political, and legal plurality, providing an important contribution to comparative constitutional scholarship in South East Asia.
