Yingluck Shinawatra

Former Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives at the Supreme Court for the last day of her hearing in a corruption trial in Bangkok Thailand. (AP/Sakchai Lalit)
A crisis is brewing in Thailand as the outcome of a contentious court case threatens to plunge the country into chaos. This case, the final verdict of which is expected to be delivered on Aug. 25, centers around a corruption scandal involving former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra — a member of the Shinawatra political dynasty, which has long been backed by U.S. interests.

In ancient Rome, especially during the late Republic, oligarchs resorted to mob violence to block, intimidate, assassinate or drive from power the dominant faction in the Senate. While neither the ruling or opposing factions represented the interests of the plebeians, wage workers, small farmers or slaves, the use of the ‘mob’ against the elected Senate, the principle of representative government and the republican form of government laid the groundwork for the rise of authoritarian “Caesars” (military rulers) and the transformation of the Roman republic into an imperial state.