ABSTRACT

Hun Sen has ruled as Cambodia’s prime minister for over three decades, making him one of the world’s most durable political leaders. Studies of Cambodia’s politics tend to portray him as a powerful strongman. They also explain major bases of his power consolidation such as his use of repression, patron–client network politics, personalised control of the country, electoral and political manipulation and resource exploitation. However, while the leader’s investment in it for his political durability has been continuous and ubiquitous in the literature, the legitimation as an important base of Hun Sen’s power has been less appreciated. This article addresses this gap. While agreeing that Hun Sen is a strongman, it is argued that he has remained politically vulnerable because the aforementioned bases of power are inadequate in dealing with the challenges his rule faces. Hun Sen’s regime has to grapple with constant legitimacy deficits. This article argues that the quest for legitimacy has been effective, contributing to his political survival and this constitutes an important feature of Hun Sen’s adaptive authoritarian resilience.

摘要

洪森作为柬埔寨总理已经统治了三十多年，使他成为世界上最持久的政治领导人之一。对柬埔寨政治的研究倾向于将他描绘成一个强大的强人。他们还解释了他巩固权力的主要基础，例如他使用镇压、赞助人-客户网络政治、对国家的个性化控制、选举和政治操纵以及资源开发。然而，尽管领导人对其政治持久性的投入在文献中一直持续且无处不在，但作为洪森权力重要基础的合法性却鲜为人知。本文解决了这一差距。在认同洪森是强人的同时，有人认为，由于上述权力基础不足以应对他的统治面临的挑战，他在政治上仍然很脆弱。洪森政权必须应对持续存在的合法性缺陷。本文认为，对合法性的追求是有效的，有助于他的政治生存，这构成了洪森适应性威权韧性的一个重要特征。