Democracy In Asia Research Articles

“The Brightest Sun, The Darkest Shadow”: Ideology and the Study of Chinese Theatre in the West during the Cold War

This is the new Communist drama, and the picture is frequently artless and sterile, without depth, without truth, and without reality.—Walter and Ruth Meserve, 1970Peking opera now is a mixture of drama, music, dance, acrobatics, poetry, propaganda and revolutionary history, with indefatigable heroes (more adroit than James Bond, and with a purpose he never dreamed of) and fabulously wicked villains—the whole socking out a message of exemplary struggle and courage.—Lois Wheeler Snow, 1972The study of Asian theatre as an academic field independent of English and Asian Studies arose in the West, particularly the United States, after World War II, in part as a result of the U.S. occupation of Japan and cold war–era funding policies aimed at spreading democracy in Asia. The notable exception was research on theatre in the People's Republic of China (PRC), which was restrained by the McCarthyist Red Scare, which greatly constricted China studies, and the PRC's self-imposed closure to the West, which made field and archival research virtually impossible. However, these conditions changed dramatically in the early and mid-1970s when the combined effect of China's midcourse correction during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and Nixon's 1972 trip to China prompted a small boom in the translation, publication, reporting, and research of Chinese plays and performance. At the same time, as the two epigraphs above indicate, this first group of writings on Chinese theatre was made largely problematic by a number of factors: the inherently ideological nature of Chinese theatre during the Cultural Revolution; the diverse ideological, academic, and theatrical background of the authors working on the subject during a similarly volatile era in the West; an overreliance on official Chinese publications (usually as the only source available); and restricted access to China for all but a small number of Westerners. Although insightful and well-researched writings certainly existed, much of this body of work reflects the ideological preoccupations of Euro-American intellectuals in the cold war era. The latter manifested themselves either through oversimplified condemnation of communist theatre as artless propaganda or through radical leftist eulogy of China's supposed success in combining theatre and ideology, making theatre serve the people, and promoting amateur performance to stimulate production.

Grassroots democracy, non-state approaches, and popular empowerment in rural Philippines

Discourses on grassroots democracy in Asia and elsewhere often focus on local governance issues such as decentralization, devolution, and local autonomy. Among social movements, discussions center on interventions in the political process through advocacies and campaigns on regime and system change or devising strategies and practices that engage the state. In all of the above, the state and state-related institutions are the central concern. There is, however, another dimension that remains relatively unexplored, one where the state recedes in importance and value. This alternative dimension looks at how poor and marginalized communities have been able to appropriate spaces and manage their own economic and political lives through mechanisms that lie outside the formal systems of governance and economics. This non-state sector encompasses political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions. Utilizing notions adapted from Scott's “non-state spaces,” Migdal's “weak state” paradigm, and the concept of “pop...

A Task and Constructing Strategy for the Quality of Asian Democracy Index

A Task and Constructing Strategy for the Quality of Asian Democracy Index

Unequal New Democracies in East Asia: Rising Inequality and Government Responses in South Korea and Taiwan

Abstract This paper explores the growing trend in income inequality in Korea and Taiwan. The two recent East Asian democracies have witnessed rising inequality since the 1990s but with cross-national differences. We find that market inequality is higher in Taiwan than in Korea, yet the Taiwan government’s efforts to reduce this disparity are stronger than similar moves in Korea. By applying the logic of economic, social, and political effects, we find both similar trends and divergent paths in the politics of inequality in the two countries.

Rosja w poszukiwaniu modelu reżimu politycznego – „poliarchia zachodnia” czy „azjatycka demokracja”

One of the fields of interest of modern political science involves the process of transformation of political systems, understood as the transition from nondemocratic to democratic systems. One of the countries undergoing such a political transformation is the Russian Federation, which in the nineteen-nineties faced the need to reject the model of the socio-political system of the Soviet Union, and to adjust to the emerging global civilization dominated by the models originating in West European countries. The paper emphasizes that, on account of the difficulties related to the process of political transformation, at the beginning of the new millennium West European models began to be supplanted by the models of Asian countries enjoying impressive economic growth while maintaining paternalist and authoritarian mechanisms of power. The author of the paper stresses that the political system of the modern Russian Federation is a particular mix of European and Asian models. Its functioning does not resemble the political regimes of polyarchy as much as those described as ‘Asian democracies’. The author indicates that given the present developmental stage of the Russian Federation, this models appears to be more practical and adequate in the political and cultural reality of modern Russia.

Book Review: Comparative Politics: Terrorism, Instability, and Democracy in Asia and Africa

Book Review: Comparative Politics: Terrorism, Instability, and Democracy in Asia and Africa

Book review: Political parties and democracy. Volume I: The Americas, Political parties and democracy. Volume III: Post-Soviet and Asian Political Parties, Political parties and democracy. Volume V: The Arab World (Kay Lawson, General Editor)

Book review: Political parties and democracy. Volume I: The Americas, Political parties and democracy. Volume III: Post-Soviet and Asian Political Parties, Political parties and democracy. Volume V: The Arab World (Kay Lawson, General Editor)

Political Trust, Social Trust and Associative Democracy in Asia

Political Trust, Social Trust and Associative Democracy in Asia

Veto players and state decisiveness: negotiating bilateral economic partnership agreements between Japan and Southeast Asia

This article extends the veto player framework introduced by Haggard and McCubbins in 2001 to examine state decisiveness toward bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) in developing countries of Southeast Asia. It uses as reference points Japan's bilateral economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. As argued in the Haggard and McCubbins framework, decisiveness is a function of the number of effective veto players arising from a country's institutional configuration. In addition, this article proposes that the political environment as it affects veto player preferences be considered in explaining decisiveness. The article further discusses the political consequences of decisive policy-making behavior in Southeast Asian democracies.

Explaining Support for Democracy in East Asia

This paper aims to explain public support for democracy in six East Asian societies using the 2006 AsiaBarometer data. The project investigates whether East Asians’ support for democracy is primarily based on perceived political performance, such as satisfaction with human rights, or perceived economic performance. The work also examines whether East Asians’ support for democracy is constrained by traditional values or the postmodern value of post-materialism. The analysis shows that for three democracies, satisfaction with human rights, i.e. perceived political performance and an intrinsic value embodied in democracy, counts more in shaping public support for democracy than perceived economic performance. Because support based on perceived economic performance is more volatile than support based on firm commitment to human rights, this finding sheds positive light on the prospects for democratic stability for the three East Asian democracies. For three East Asian autocratic societies, democratic support is based more on perceived economic rather than political performance, casting a pall on the future prospects for democratization of them. That said, these dim prospects are balanced by the finding of very weak and negative effects of some traditional Asian values on democratic support.

Police integrity in South Korea

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the contours of police integrity among Korean police officers a decade after police reform was started.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected in 2009 at the Korean National Police University (KNPU) and the Police Comprehensive Academy (PCA). The questionnaires distributed to police officers contained 14 vignettes describing various forms of police misconduct. The sample consists of 329 police officers, mostly non‐supervisors, attending courses at the KNPU and PCA.FindingsResults indicate that the contours of police integrity vary across different forms of misconduct. Regardless of whether the respondents' views were measured through questions about misconduct seriousness, appropriate discipline, willingness to report, or knowledge about official rules, the findings suggest that Korean police officers perceived corruption as a serious form of police misconduct, while they considered the use of excessive force to be substantially less serious. In addition, a strong code of silence among the police was detected.Research limitations/implicationsThe study examines the contours of police integrity among a convenience sample of police officers from South Korea.Practical implicationsThe Korean police administrators interested in controlling police misconduct could utilize this methodology to explore the contours of the code of silence among the Korean police. The results of the study indicate that substantial focus should be put on changing police officer views about the use of excessive force and narrowing the code of silence in general.Social implicationsThe results show that the contours of police integrity among South Korean police officers clearly reflect the attitudes and views of the society at large toward corruption and use of excessive force. The lenient attitudes that South Korean police officers have expressed regarding the use of excessive force reflect both the historical attitudes and the lack of clarity of official rules. The strong code of silence is related to the insufficient protection for whistleblowers and the adherence to Confucianism among Korean citizens.Originality/valuePrior research predominantly measured police integrity as the opposite of police corruption in Western democracies and East European countries in transition. This research expands this by focusing on different forms of police misconduct. In addition, it explores integrity in an Asian democracy with the police agency undergoing extensive reform.

An Update on Democracy in Asia: Models or Cautionary Tales?

An Update on Democracy in Asia: Models or Cautionary Tales?

China and East Asian Democracy: The Coming Wave

Abstract: With the eruption of mass movements for democratic change throughout the Arab world in 2011, hopeful analysts of global democratic prospects have focused attention on the Middle East. But if a new regional wave of transitions to democracy unfolds in the next five to ten years, it is more likely to come from East Asia: Thailand is progressing back toward democracy; Malaysia and Singapore show signs of entering a period of democratic transition; Burma, to the surprise of many, is liberalizing politically for the first time in twenty years; and China faces a looming crisis of authoritarianism that will generate a new opportunity for democratic transition in the next two decades and possibly much sooner.

China and East Asian Democracy: Is CCP Rule Fragile or Resilient?

Abstract: Is the PRC’s authoritarianism resilient or decaying? The answer to this question will depend on whether the CCP’s post-Tiananmen strategy of relying on economic growth and political repression continues to prove effective despite social and economic conditions that have changed drastically during the past two decades. The principal reasons for the CCP’s survival since Tiananmen have been robust economic performance and consistent political repression. Although it is true that the CCP may have improved its political tactics, its survival for the last two decades would have been unthinkable without these two critical factors—economic performance and political repression.

China and East Asian Democracy: The Patterns of History

Abstract: The contemporary problems of democracy in East Asia and its ability to deal with future challenges cannot be understood except in the context of a region whose largest player is a rapidly growing and relatively successful authoritarian regime—China. The field of comparative politics has not developed an adequate conceptual framework for categorizing and understanding different forms of authoritarian government; we need to fill in this gap and develop an understanding of how the specific characteristics of East Asian government arise out of the historically determined development path that the region followed.

Democratic Instability: Democratic Consolidation, National Identity, and Security Dynamics in East Asia1

Cho, Il Hyun. (2011) Democratic Instability: Democratic Consolidation, National Identity, and Security Dynamics in East Asia. Foreign Policy Analysis, doi: 10.1111/j.1743-8594.2011.00154.x During his tenure, President George W. Bush touted the East Asian democratic experience as a positive model for democratization in the Middle East. Contrary to the premise of democracy leading to regional stability, however, East Asian democracies in the past decade have often become a source of regional instability. Based on a comparative analysis of political developments in Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, this paper explores the foreign policy behavior of East Asian democracies and assesses the overall impact on regional security dynamics. Specifically, I argue that incomplete democratic consolidation, combined with the political salience of national identity, sparked a process of acute intergroup competition among domestic political actors. As a result, the foreign policy orientation of the three East Asian democracies became belligerent, thereby unnecessarily increasing regional tensions.

Thailand: minimally stable, minimally democratic

This article, forming part of this volume’s effort to map the qualities of democracy in Asia, describes Thailand (as of mid-2011) as a formal democracy devoid of each of the ‘qualities’ that promote democracy’s full realization. Aside from offering an overall descriptive assessment, the article seeks to explain the relationship between the various qualities of democracy observed in Thailand over the past decade. While Thaksin Shinawatra’s tenure in office (2001–2006) offers a compelling illustration for the proposition that ‘not all good things go together,’ virtually every dimension of the ‘goodness’ or ‘quality’ of Thailand’s democracy has experienced a generalized decline since Thaksin’s ousting in 2006.

Being Young and Muslim: New Cultural Politics in the Global South and North. Edited by Linda Herrera and Asef Bayat. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. 443 pp. $99.00 (cloth), $29.95 (paper). - Islam and Democratization in Asia. Edited by Shiping Hua. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2009. 352 pp. $119.00 (cloth).

Being Young and Muslim: New Cultural Politics in the Global South and North. Edited by Linda Herrera and Asef Bayat. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. 443 pp. $99.00 (cloth), $29.95 (paper). - Islam and Democratization in Asia. Edited by Shiping Hua. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press, 2009. 352 pp. $119.00 (cloth).

Shih-Shan Henry Tsai, Lee Teng-hui and Taiwan's Quest for Identity (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005); and Richard C. Kagan, Taiwan's Statesman: Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2007. 231 pp.

October 01 2011 Shih-Shan Henry Tsai, Lee Teng-hui and Taiwan's Quest for Identity (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005); and Richard C. Kagan, Taiwan's Statesman: Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2007. 231 pp. Murray A. Rubinstein Murray A. Rubinstein Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Murray A. Rubinstein Online ISSN: 1531-3298 Print ISSN: 1520-3972 © 2011 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology2011 Journal of Cold War Studies (2011) 13 (4): 250–252. https://doi.org/10.1162/JCWS_r_00128 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Murray A. Rubinstein; Shih-Shan Henry Tsai, Lee Teng-hui and Taiwan's Quest for Identity (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005); and Richard C. Kagan, Taiwan's Statesman: Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2007. 231 pp.. Journal of Cold War Studies 2011; 13 (4): 250–252. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/JCWS_r_00128 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsJournal of Cold War Studies Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2011 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology2011 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Collective Action, Political Parties, and Pro-Development Public Policy

Broad consensus exists that the ability of political actors to make credible commitments is key to development. An important and little-explored determinant of the credibility of political commitments is the existence of organizations that facilitate citizen collective action to sanction political actors who renege. This paper focuses on one essential organization, the political party. Three measures of political parties are used to assess cross-country differences in the degree to which politicians facilitate the ability of citizens to act in their collective interest. Each of these measures is associated with superior development outcomes, above and beyond the effects of competitive elections. These results have implications for understanding the extraordinary economic success of some East Asian countries and notable lags among others. East Asian nondemocracies exhibit more institutionalized ruling parties than other nondemocracies, while East Asian democracies exhibit equally or less institutionalized parties. The evidence suggests that greater research and policy emphasis be placed on the organizational characteristics of countries that allow citizens to hold leaders accountable.