Revising Social Contracts in East Asia.

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]