Search

This paper considers the reform of social contracts in East Asia from 1980-2000. In contrast to Central Europe and Latin America, East Asian transitions to democracy--where they occurred--took place during periods of high growth and robust public finances. The absence of substantial fiscal constraints permitted an expansion of social policy commitments and limited opportunities and incentives for retrenchment. The paper considers four democracies--Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines--and two party-dominant systems, Malaysia and Singapore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although in the long term, democratization is expected to exert pacifying effects on international relations, scholars have argued that conflict is more likely during democratic transitions. They argue that politicians in democratizing states are more likely to make jingoistic appeals, and coalitions of political, business, and/or military leaders are likely to form and to ?logroll? for military buildups and other destabilizing policies. This proposition has great significance for East Asia, which faces two potential political transitions: the democratization of China, and Korean unification. This paper tests a theory of democratization and conflict in the cases of three previous East Asian political transitions: Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. I test not only for the occurrence of conflict, but also for the presence of the predicted mechanisms through which conflict occurs (nationalistic appeals and logrolling). I find that although there is some evidence of nationalistic posturing that is consistent with the theory?s predictions, for the most part, evidence from these cases does not support the theory. Leaders did not make jingoistic appeals; they were more likely to preach stability. Furthermore, I find that the public, the military, and the business community do have substantial influence over policy makers, but do not find that these groups advocated military buildups or offensive military strategies. This study casts doubt on the relevance of the ?democratization and war? thesis for future East Asian political transitions; it finds support for theories in the liberal school of international relations, including the beneficial effects of democratization, policies of engagement, and economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the theory of "deliberative democracy" we develop a two-step deliberative approach to the recording of Asia's contested history. The first is theoretical. We develop a new politics of history and deliberative approach with the specification of ideal-type conditions for deliberation. The approach encourages pluralist rather than nationalist, deliberative rather than emotional, readings of history. By allowing for an "ethics of difference" (Bleiker 2005), we seek to facilitate a more open debate about history, and to "democratize" the retelling of the past. Our pluralist and deliberative approach to discussing, recalling and recording history provides adeliberation-based "public space" (He 2004a) in which to achieve a minimal, mutually acceptable account of the war. This in turn fosters movement towards what Jürgen Habermas terms the most "valid" interpretation of history (see Suh 2007).The second step is empirical. We first map forms of discussion and debate on history, and then undertake an empirical testing to ascertain the degree to which civil society groups and citizens have been involved and deliberation has occurred. We highlight the Modern History of East Asia project, which entailed the production of a history textbook for use in China, Japan and South Korea.1 The project, which involved mainly NGOs and schoolteachers, sought to overcome the "liberation-invasion" dichotomy that characterizes the retelling of regional history (Hundt and Bleiker 2007). We contrast MHEA with less inclusive modes of dialogue—and in particular a dispute between China and South Korea that erupted at precisely the same time as the MHEA project was underway. By juxtaposing the Goguryeo-Gāogōulì dispute with the success of MHEA, this paper provides an account of factors leading to deliberative and non-deliberative dialogues, examines the limits and problems of the deliberative approach, and discusses the dynamic potential of a deliberative approach to dialogue. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the 2001-2003 surveys to determine whether ordinary people of five East Asian new democracies actually perceive their new democracy as a lesser evil and whether lesser evil perceptions render them supportive of it to a greater extent than other regime perceptions. It explicates the notion of a lesser evil as a concept and distinguish it from other forms of so-called evil governance. The measurement of evil and good conceptions of democracy used to test empirically the Churchillian conceptualization of democracy is discussed.

The article examines the role of domestic constitutionalism in the achievement of economic development in East Asia. The political and economic experiences of East Asia highlight the importance of liberal constitutionalism in sustainable human and economic development. The key features of liberal constitutionalism are democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. These are important in achieving transparency and accountability.

The article examines the impact of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on democracy in recipient states. Overall, the IMF has a positive impact on democracy in countries that participated in its Extended Fund Facility program. However, consideration of the IMF impact within a regional context leads to mixed results. While IMF has had a strongly positive impact on democracy in Africa, the opposite has been observed in Latin America and East Asia.