East AsiaÆs New Democracies: Deepening, Reversal, Non-liberal Alternatives

by Chu; Yin-wah

• ISBN13: 9780415499316
• ISBN10: 0415499313
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-05-10
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This collection brings us up-to-date on the contemporary situations in the new democracies of East Asia, and debates on the prospect of introducing liberal democracy to this part of the world. The chapters cover a wide range of cases, including in-depth examination of China, Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, and broad comparisons of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other countries. The contributors, who are foremost experts in their fields, examine the roles performed by civil society, social classes, and strategic groups, as well as the intertwining of values and interests in the transition to, consolidation of, and reversal from democracy. They also evaluate the extent to which these new democracies have facilitated regional peace, helped extend social welfare benefits, bolstered poverty alleviation, and upheld the rule of law and human rights. Grounding their analyses in the historical development of these societies, and/or examining them through the comparative strategy they also explore the desirability of liberal democracy, whether in the subjective assessment of the Asian people or in relation to the social-political challenges faced by these Asian countries. East Asia'¬"s New Democracieswill be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, political science, political sociology, East and Southeast Asian studies.

Author Biography

Yin-wah Chu is Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology, Hong Kong Baptist University.
Siu-lun Wong is Professor and Director of the Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong.

Table of Contents

List of figures	p. xi
List of tables	p. xii
Notes on contributors	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
East Asia's new democracies: an introduction	p. 1
Transition, consolidation, reversal: actors then and now	p. 23
Social and political developments in China: challenges for democratization	p. 25
Civil society and democracy-making in Taiwan: reexamining the link	p. 43
The bottom-up nature of Korean democratization: civil society, anti-Americanism and popular protest	p. 65
Modernization theory's last redoubt: democratization in East and Southeast Asia	p. 85
Development and change in Korean democracy since the democratic transition in 1987: the Three Kims' politics and after	p. 102
Thailand's conservative democratization	p. 122
Democracy in East Asia? Achievements and enduring challenges	p. 141
Democracy and disorder: will democratization bring greater regional instability to East Asia?	p. 143
Democracy's double edge: financing social policy in industrial East Asia	p. 167
Devolution and democracy: a fragile connection	p. 185
Rule of law and democracy: lessons for China from Asian experiences	p. 206
Group rights and democracy in Southeast Asia	p. 227
Diagnosing the micro foundation of democracy in Asia: evidence from the AsiaBarometer survey, 2003-2008	p. 246
Index	p. 293
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