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Redefining Democracy Bangkok International Student Conference 2019 21 - 22 January 2019 , Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand R E D E F I N I N G DEMOCRACY: THE NEW BATTLE- GROUND PROCEEDINGS Welcome Letter from the Dean of Faculty of Political Science As the Dean of the Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, I would like to welcome all of you to the 6th Bangkok International Student Conference. Thammasat University has long been a symbol that promotes the principles of liberty and democracy in Thailand. Also, it is regarded as one of the forefront academic institutions in Thailand. This year, the conference is held under the theme of “Redefning Democracy: The New Battleground”. The theme has responded to the current global situation including that of Thailand where its democracy is a challenging issue. Therefore, in this conference, the participants are strongly encouraged to question, discuss and exchange ideas about the terms and issues related to democracy such as populism and economic development. Moreover, the democratic situation nowadays is the completely different from the past. This is because of the emergence of new platform called “social media” which has tremendous impact on our daily life. Furthermore, social media is considered as a free space where users can enJoy sharing their ideas publicly. This grants political institutions and stakeholders to proJect their messages to attract the mass and raise their popularity. Therefore, the social media can be defned as the “new battleground” for the current political competition aligning with the theme of the conference. Besides the academic part, I hope that all participants enJoy the surrounding environment around the campus. The university is surrounded by many well-known historic places which attract travelers from around the world. I recommend you to grab this chance while you are staying in Bangkok to visit those places. Most importantly, this conference will provide the attention and effort from the BISC staff members in order to convene the conference to the paramount. The organizing committee is prepared to give undivided participation to our utmost important individual participants. I wish you the very best of luck, learn from each other and enJoy the conference. Asst.Prof. Dr.Tavida Kamolvej Dean of Faculty of Political Science Thammasat University A Warm Welcome to All Delegates and Observers! It is our greatest pleasure to welcome you all to the 2019 Bangkok International Student Conference (BISC) here in Bangkok, Thailand. BISC aims to construct a platform for youth engagement while broadening boundaries of knowledge and enhancing youth partnership through academic collaboration. We provide a space where differences in opinion are encouraged and respected, a space where everyone is welcome. This year, we have returned with the theme “Redefning Democracy: A New Battleground.” With varieties of activities prepared, we hope to make your experience at BISC not only an educational one, but also a memorable one. We hope you enjoy your time here and if there is anything you need, feel free to let any of us know at any time. Sincerely, Bangkok International Student Conference Committee BANGKOKINTER N AT I O N A L S T UWHAT D E N T CONFERENCE2019IS BISC ? BANGKOK BANG- Constructing a platform for youth engagement, the broadened boundary of KOKknowledge and enhanced youth INTERNATIONpartnership through academic collaboration. - ALSTUDENTSince 2011, the Bangkok International Student ConferenceCONFER (BISC) has been - launched by the Bachelor of Political Science Programme in Politics and ENCEInternational Relations (BIR Programme)2019 at the ThammasatBANGKOK University. The Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, is one of Thailand’s foremost providers of research and higher education. It is also regarded as a INTERNATIONALwell-renowned venue for Thai and international scholars. The Bangkok International Student Conference (BISC) performs as an STUDENTinternational platform providing CONFERENCE exceptional academic opportunities for young enthusiastic students regardless of their felds of studies and nationalities: 2019 To present their academic paper and exchange new perspectives STUDENT To develop outstanding CONFERENCE leadership, communication, and teamwork skills 2019 To establish BANGKOKINTER a network with students around the world N AT I O N A L S T U D E N T CONFERENCE2019 BANGKOK BANG- KOK INTERNATION- ALSTUDENT CONFER- BANGKOKINTER N AT I O N A L S T U D E N T “An annual academic activities CONFERENCE2019that gathering student from various universities, regions, and nationalities BANGKOKaround the world” BANG- KOK In the previous year, the BISCINTERNATION 2018 successfully portrayed the theme of - “One Belt One Road: Path to Comprehensive Regional Development (?)” ALSTUDENTcreating a venue for almost 100 students to presentCONFER their papers, to discuss - and to share their thoughts among each other and distinguished scholars in ENCEthe panel discussion. 2019BANGKOK In this year, the Bangkok International Student Conference (BISC) 2019 will be held under the theme of “Redefning Democracy: The New Battle- INTERNATIONALground ?” since there have been numerous phenomena in the democratic world in which it leads to the importance of “Redefning Democracy” in this modern globalized world. The discussion will be under these 4 topics as STUDENTfollow: CONFERENCE 1. Democracy and Economic Development 20192. Social Media Infuences on Electoral Campaign 3. Democracy and Populism STUDENT4. Voter Education: Stakes CONFERENCE over the First Time Voters 2019 BANGKOKINTER N AT I O N A L S T U D E N T CONFERENCE2019 BANGKOK BANG- KOK INTERNATION- ALSTUDENT CONFER- WHY REDEFINING DEMOCRACY? Tracing back in the 5th Century BC, the term of dēmokratía or democracy in the modern time emerged Athens. It literally means “rule by people,” though, in fact, only the elite class had the right to rule and participate. The term of democracy eventually had reached its core value in the 19th and 20th centuries through the suffrage movement in which achieved the full enfranchisement. Up to now, there is still no consensus exists on how to defne democracy. There is merely the identifcation of the core elements which are legal equality, political freedom, and rule of law. Hence, the lack of a unanimous defnition of “democracy” leads to the diversifed interpretation, implementation, and gaps. In many countries, the defnition of democracy has been contested and interpreted differently. Numerous people also have different values towards the term “democracy”. Some believe that having merely an election is enough to be democratic while some believe that there are many more democratic values such as respect the minority, rule of law, political freedom, and so forth in order to be considered as democratic. This, therefore, has also led to the masquerade for ones to act under the name of legitimacy, such as the term “Thai-Style Democracy” in which had been espoused during the Field Marshall Sarit Thanarat in 1957 and later was revived by General Prayut Chan-o-cha whom both committed the coup. While, in the United States, Donald Trump won the election but now he is condemned by many people as a threat to democracy. Therefore, it has led to doubts about what actually is democracy, should there be a consensual defnition, and do we all under- stand the values of democracy? Hence, it is extremely crucial for “Redefning Democracy” in this new battleground which is the technologically globalized modern world. There are many questions that are left to be answered. Does democracy truly relate to the economic development while China in which is ruled by the communist party is now rising and become the world major power through economic growth? Does populism harm democracy? Is it necessary to educate the voters about the elections and democratic values? Does social media can shape the future of electoral campaigns and could be utilized as a tool to enhance direct democracy in the future. AGENDA & PANEL SETTINGS Monday, 21 January 2019 Venue: Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, Tha Prachan Campus 09.00 – 09.30 Registration 09.30 – 10.30 Warm up and ice-breaking activities 10.30 – 12.00 Campus tour 12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break 13.00 – 17.00 Paper presentation and discussion 17.00 – 17.20 Wrap up Tuesday, 22 January 2019 Venue: Faculty of Political Science, Thammasat University, Tha Prachan Campus 08.30 – 09.00 Registration 09.00 – 12.00 Public forum “Youth Engagement in Election” 12.00 – 13.00 Lunch break 13.00 – 16.30 Workshop 16.30 – 17.00 Wrap up 17.00 – 18.00 Networking 18.00 – 22.00 Closing ceremony and farewell party TOPIC DESCRIPTION SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCES ON ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN Social media, nowadays, have a great infuence on our lives. This is because the social media are served as platforms for presenting content by each of individual groups in our society. Moreover, the people also use social media as a means for communication not just among themselves, but also to the public. In other words, people use social media as a channel to broadcast their arguments or ideas that are controversial in the society including politics. Therefore, political parties and institutions began to collect these shared ideas on social media regarding political issues to contract their policies that would attract the public and raise popularity turning the social media to become the new political battleground. In turn, as the social media can penetrate into various social groups, it is used by the political parties as channel to project their political campaign. VOTER EDUCATION Election is considered one of the important factors indicating the democratic situation in one particular country. The election is also the time that the political power rest in the citizens’ hands which is very important as it will lead the country in the way the majority desires. Therefore, education regarding tovoting and election is very crucial. Voter education generally refers to informing and providing the citizen with information and materials about participating in election and democracy.
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