Introduction
What happens when a rich businessman becomes a leader of a country? The answer
is that he is likely to think that "a country is a company." Once in power, he will
proceed to reform the government in the same way that he will revolutionise a
company. Whether he is aware or not, he may end up believing that "a country is his
company." In this article the author contends that "a country is my company"
approach toward government reform will carry prime ministerial predominance to
the extreme through a change process which aims to centralise all power in the
hands of a single authority, the prime minister. This phenomenon, which is known
as "prime ministerialisation," will be illustrated by referring to the reforms introduced
in Thailand by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from 2001. According to the
author, Thaksin's "a country is my company" approach to government reform rests
on nine basic assumptions, which will be discussed below.