What's driving the democratic recession in Asia?

Abstract

Abstract The extant literature explains autocratization either through domestically or internationally-driven explanations. The former focuses on studying autocratic strongmen's executive aggrandizement or promissory coups from a domestic perspective, while the latter highlights the critical role of autocratic powers in promoting autocratic practices to neighboring countries from an international perspective. Transcending such a dichotomous approach, this study endeavors to explore the coupling of domestic and international drivers in causing autocratization in the context of Asia through a comparative analysis of Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Thailand. The comparative analysis indicates that domestic politics spearheads autocratization (that is, the role of autocratic strongmen in spearheading autocratization through executive aggrandizement or promissory coups), while international politics consolidates such autocratization (that is, the role of autocratic powers in consolidating autocratization pathway through their exporting influence). With the rising rivalry between democratic and autocratic powers, there are more pressing needs than ever to integrate domestic and international perspectives in autocratization studies.