Third-Wave Democratization in East Asia: Challenges and ProspectChu Yun-han

ASIEN – Nr. 100 (2006) pp. 11–17

East Asia presents quite a few puzzles to students of democratization. First, East Asia has defied the global movement towards democracy. Since the current wave of democratization began in 1974, more than 80 countries have made significant progress towards democracy by holding free and competitive elections and expanding political freedom. In contrast, in East Asia there has been no region-wide movement towards democracy during the same period. The bulk of the region is still governed by various forms of authoritarian and semi-democratic regimes. In 2005, measured in terms of political rights and civil liberty developed by the Freedom House, among the eighteen sovereign states and autonomous territories in the region, only six are ranked „free“. Among the six, only five (namely the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Mongolia) became democratized within the time span typically referred to as the third wave. On the other hand, most of the region’s non-democratic regimes seem to be well-positioned for an extended life lease.