Delivering Feudal Democracy in East Timor

Abstract

Circumstances that resulted in the United Nation's failed attempt to establish sustainable democratic institutions in East Timor are examined. An overview of traditional East Timorese political dynamics is provided, indicating that authority was conventionally divided between political & ritual authorities, not local & national governments. After reviewing factors that prompted the fragmentation of the National Counsel of Timorese Resistance & the subsequent assumption of political authority by Fretilin, it is stressed that divisions between the legislature & the executive-military forces further complicated East Timorese democratization. It is subsequently asserted that the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor failed to recognize the import of local political & ritual traditions, particularly those concerning legitimate authority, in its attempt to implement Western democratic institutions at the national level. Recommendations for revitalizing East Timor's state-building processes are also offered, eg, gradually integrating local institutions into the democratic state. J. W. Parker