The retirement of the country’s longest-serving prime minister leaves in place a “continuity administration,” and with it some troubling questions about whether liberal democracy’s “soft guardrails” are being eroded.
Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan are typically seen as democratic stalwarts, on par with older established democracies. But all three countries face growing pressures that threaten its political foundations.
For decades, Japan and Taiwan elected their legislatures using the single nontransferable vote. Recently, however, both countries adopted new electoral systems. What explains this trend?
