Political Sophistication and Confucian Asia.

The concept of "Confucian Asia" is often used without examining its validity. But are Asian societies homogeneous in Confucian orientations as the term suggests? If not, how can we explain the variation? By examining the East Asia Barometer survey data, this article challenges the homogeneity of Confucian Asia and finds that Confucian orientations are unevenly distributed even among commonly accepted Confucian societies. Exploring the possible explanations for this Confucian orientation variation, this article argues that political sophistication is the direct mechanism to explain the variation of mass commitment towards Confucianism. By comparing other alternative explanations such as modernization theory, the article finds that the effects of political sophistication are independent and potent. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]