Two Concepts of Federalism in Myanmar: How the 2021 Military Coup Reshaped Political Discourse and Opposition Institutions.

This article examines the impact of Myanmar's 2021 military coup on the country's political dynamics, focusing on a shift from a majoritarian model dominated by the Bamar ethnic majority toward a more inclusive consensus model of federal democracy. It contrasts the pre-coup National League for Democracy (NLD) government's "democratic federalism," which emphasized majority rule and centralized control, with post-coup opposition institutions such as the National Unity Government (NUG) and National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), which embody "federal democracy" characterized by broader ethnic inclusion and power-sharing. Analysis of opposition institutional composition and Burmese-language Facebook discourse reveals increased ethnic diversity and popular support for federal democracy after the coup, suggesting a bottom-up transformation in political culture toward consensus politics. The coup thus represents a critical juncture that disrupted longstanding Bamar dominance and opened possibilities for more dispersed, federal political arrangements in Myanmar's future.