Book review:Democratization in Sout

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Book review:Democratization in Southeast and East Asia 

Book Review

Democratization in Southeast and East Asia 
Journal of Third World Studies; Americus; Spring 1999; Pamela Sodhy; 

Volume: 
                  16
Issue: 
                  1
Start Page: 
                  213-217
ISSN: 
                  87553449
Subject Terms: 
                  Nonfiction
                  Democracy
Geographic Names: 
                  Southeast Asia
                  Asia

Abstract:
"Democratization in Southeast and East Asia" edited by Anek Laothamatas is
reviewed.

Full Text:
Copyright Association of Third World Studies, Inc. Spring 1999


Laothamatas, Anek (ed.). Democratization in Southeast and East Asia. New
York: St. Martin's
Press, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 1997. 272 pp. 

This book, the proceedings of a 1994 conference in Singapore, seeks "to
understand and analyze
the phenomenon and process of political change in the region" and to link
that change "to the rapid
and far-reaching economic growth taking place at the same time."
Accordingly, it examines eight
countries: six in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and
Myanmar) and two in East Asia (Taiwan and Korea). This examination takes
place against the
backdrop of "the past two decades", a time-span that includes the immediate
post-Cold War period
with its "democratization wave" around the world and tremendous economic
growth in the Far East.
The book treats the rising prosperity in the region as a given but this
development has since taken a
nosedive. By mid-1997, Thailand was facing currency and banking problems,
followed by
Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. By late 1997, the problem had
spread to Korea and
Japan, prompting observers to term the economic setback as the "Asian flu".
Despite the economic
downturn, however, at the close of the 20th century the region remains the
most dynamic trading
area in the world and with the highest growth rates. How long the region can
maintain this record is,
of course, open to debate. 

In any case, the book is a useful and informative account of major pre1995
developments in the
countries studied, supplementing the limited works on contemporary regional
studies of the
Asia-Pacific region in the post-Cold War period. For example, it supplements
and complements
James W. Morley's edited work, Driven by Growth Political Change in the
Asia-Pacific Region,

published in 1900. Moreover, it brings the study of the complex nexus
between democratization and
economic growth - two dominant themes in the region -- to the period just
prior to the sudden
economic slowdown. What is distinctive about Democratization in Southeast
and East Asia is that
all the country studies are by scholars indigenous to the area. This is one
of the book's major
strengths, allowing for local perspectives which are presented with deep
insights as well as much
sensitivity. A common thread linking the work of these scholars is their
expertise in the field of
political science. At the same time, however, as local scholars or insiders,
some of their criticisms
about their country's political and economic problems seem rather muted.
While this is
understandably so, as they work under constraints, their discussion of some
major problems, such
as corruption, nepotism, and ethnic tensions, appear to remain only at the
surface level. 

The book is arranged into nine chapters and includes a Foreword, a list of
contributors, and an
index. Each chapter is well organized and contains a concluding section as
well as endnotes. The
first chapter serves as the introduction to the whole book while the next
six chapters deal with
Southeast Asia and the last two with East Asia. In Chapter 1, "Development
and Democratization:
A Theoretical Introduction with Reference to the Southeast Asian and East
Asian Cases", Anek
Laothamatas, a noted Thai political scientist and the Vice-- Rector for
Academic Affairs at
Thanunasat University, provides a framework for the book by discussing two
major theoretical
perspectives on the relationship between economic development and political
democratization. 

The first theoretical perspective, that development causes democratization,
is supported by the
comparative and historical school and the modem-correlation school, with the
first focusing on the
agents of change and the second on a quantitative approach which
concentrates on the
socioeconomic context of democratization. All the country studies follow the
historical-analytical
approach and depict the capitalists and the middle class as the main agents
in democratization.
Although he cautions that "one should not hold a simplistic view that
development leads to
democracy by generating pro-democracy forces", he notes that the experiences
of Thailand,
Taiwan, and South Korea demonstrate that pattern. On the second theoretical
perspective, that
development does not lead to democracy or further democratization, this
occurs where the rise of
capitalism is accompanied by authoritarian rule. He suggests that Malaysia,
Singapore, and
Indonesia mirror this perspective for reasons that include statist economic
development, culture,
racial-ethnic divisions, and external and political factors. He highlights
the "volatile racial and ethnic
tension" in these three countries, claiming that their governments have been
"resilient to the forces
demanding further democratization" partly due to fear that full democracy
might foster more ethnic
trouble. 


Laothamatas finds that the Philippines and Myanmar do not fit so neatly into
the two theoretical
perspectives for they show that "democracy in various countries is not set
in motion at all by
economic success or growth". In the Philippines, "the fruits of economic
development, as
accumulated through the 1950s and 1960s did not lead to further
democratization and paved the
way to the Marcos dictatorship of the 1970s" while it was poor economic
performance, not
economic achievement, which led to the democratic movement in the 1980s. In
Myanmar, it was
"underdevelopment, among other things, that triggered Myanmar's democratic
movement of the late
1980s". In both countries, a shift from authoritarian rule to democratic
rule took place because of
underdevelopment. He concludes that in Southeast and East Asia "the question
of whether
development will pave the way to democracy or not, up to this point, is
still open-ended" and that
economic development is "neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for
democratic transition".
He hopes for "a more balanced position between a socioeconomic approach and a
political-ideological approach to democratization". 

Chapter 2 then deals with Indonesia. In "Democratization: The Case of
Indonesia's New Order",
Amir Santoso, Director, Center for Policy and Development Studies, and
Lecturer, Faculty of
Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia, explains why
Indonesia's process of
democratization has been slow despite fast economic growth. As reasons, he
cites the government's
control over the media; Golkar's domination in Parliament; appointed members
to Parliament; the
stress on collective rights; the dominant roles of the President and the
military; the influence of
Javanese culture with its strong patron-client relationship; the weakness of
the middle class due to its
small size and limited power; the dependence of civil servants and
businessmen on the government;
and the big gap between rich and poor. He concludes that "efforts are needed
to spread political
education, to allow more political participation, and to continuously
establish political institutions
needed for democracy to work". Using the statist economic development model,
Santosa shows
that development in Indonesia does not lead to democracy. 

Using the same economic model, Khoo Boo Teik, a Lecturer at the School of
Social Sciences,
University Sains Malaysia, also demonstrates that development in Malaysia
does not lead to
democracy. In Chapter 3, "Democracy and Authoritarianism in Malaysia since
1957: Class,
Ethnicity, and Changing Capitalism", he stresses in his first section that
"the quality of Malaysian
democracy declined" after the 1969 racial riots in that more restrictions
were placed on fundamental
liberties, the media, and the opposition parties. 

In Chapter 4, "Philippine Democracy: Promise and Performance", Renalto S.
Velasco, Chief of
Staff of Congressman Manuel Roxas, discusses more openly the connection
between democracy
and economic development in Asia's first republic by describing the
socio-historical context of
Philippine democracy and by comparing theory and practice in the Marcos,

Aquino, and Ramos
administrations. He notes that authoritarianism under Marcos did not foster
democracy whereas the
more liberal rule under Aquino and Ramos did so. He claims that in the
Philippines the relationship
between rapid economic growth and democracy is "vague" and that the role of
the middle classes in
democratization is "quite uncertain". 

The fifth chapter, "Economic Development and Political Change: The
Democratization Process in
Singapore", by Heng Hiang Khng, a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian
Studies, is a cautious
account that begins with the author's neutral position - he seeks "to
document Singapore's
democratization process" without taking a position on whether governments
should be more or less
democratic. He then provides a definition of Asian democracy by comparing
its features with
Western democracy, noting that the Asian variety espouses greater
recognition for community
rights, greater respect and acceptance of authority and hierarchy, and an
effective dominant party.
After that, he charts Singapore's democratic process, covering the
competitive multi-party phase,
1948-1968; the one party system, 1968-1981; and the resumption of democracy,
1981-1994. 

In Chapter 6, "The Making of Thai Democracy: A Study of Political Alliances
Among the State, the
Capitalists, and the Middle Class", Surin Maisrikrod, Lecturer in Southeast
Asian Politics,
Department and Politics, James Cook University, North Queensland, "focuses
on the process by
which democratization in Thailand has come about, paying special attention
to how the notion of
political alliance was established by the state, the capitalists, and the
middle class." His main thesis is
that "the rise and fall of this alliance as well as its transformation have
been largely responsible for
both democratization and its reversals within the Thai polity". 

In Chapter 7, on "Myanmar Democratization: Punctuated Equilibrium or
Retrograde Motion"?, Tin
Maung Maung Than, a Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and
Coordinator of its
Regional Strategic and Political Studies Program, traces the "long and
turbulent political history of
Myanmar" from early times to 1995. The author guardedly notes that
democratization under military
control follows a "meandering path", marked by "retrograde motion in the
1960s under military rule"
and stagnation under "democratic centralism thereafter". He concludes that
Myanmar is in the
second stage of democratization - the "transition" stage, following
"authoritarianism" but preceding
"consolidation" and "maturing". 

Chapter Eight, examines "Liberalization and Democratization in Taiwan: A
Class and Functional
Perspective". The author, Lo Shiu Hing, a Lecturer in the Department of
Politics and Public
Administration, University of Hong Kong, first defines political
liberalization as "a phenomenon
where civil liberties are granted by the state to ordinary citizens" and
democratization as "a notion
specifically referring to the restructuring or adaptation to political
institutions to allow more citizen
and elite participation". In Taiwan's case, democratization "can be seen in

the introduction of more
locally and directly elected elements to the Legislative Assembly". 

In the last chapter,"Economic Dimensions of Democratization in South Korea",
Chung-Si Ahn, a
Professor in the Department of Political Science at Seoul National
University and the President of
the Korean Association of Southeast Asian Studies, examines the imbalance
between economic and
political change in his country. While South Korea enjoyed "miraculous"
economic development
during the past three decades under "developmental authoritarianism", its
political progress was
much slower. The economic success, however, eventually created the
pro-democratic force that led
to Roh Tae Woo's election as President in 1987. Anh analyzes the economic
transformation leading
to democratization, the political-economic dynamics underlying the changes
in 1987 and beyond,
and the economic requirements that South Korea needs for consolidating
democracy. He stresses
that economic development led to democratization in South Korea, changing
the state-society
relationship and the relative powers of classes or groups. He sees
democratic movements as
"struggles on the part of the citizenry to gain freedom and autonomy against
the arbitrary control of
the state and/or its abuse of power". 

In conclusion, the book, as it stands, is a valuable work for understanding
the complex
democratization process in several Southeast and East Asian countries prior
to the economic
downturn in 1997. Since the democratization took place amidst economic
growth which has since
slowed down, there are now new twists and turns in that saga. Perhaps a
sequel is in order to
update the democratization process in these countries and to also examine
how this process is being
affected by present developments. If a sequel is attempted, it should
include why economic growth
has not been sustainable in the region and, in so doing, deal more
critically and openly than the
present volume about major problems like corruption, cronyism, and the lack
of transparency in the
political and economic systems. After all, if not checked, this "Asian flu"
can have worldwide
repercussions, both economic and political.