Region: Southeast Asia | Journal of Democracy

October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4

Indonesia: Jokowi Sidelines Democracy

Indonesia’s president claims he is curbing democracy today to save it later. If he is wrong about his long-term wager, democratic institutions may not survive.

April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2

Burma: The Generals Strike Back

Zoltan Barany

The military could not bear Aung San Suu Kyi’s enduring popularity and her party’s continued success at the polls. But the generals may have miscalculated how much the people detest them.

January 2020, Volume 31, Issue 1

The Puzzle of Authoritarian Legitimacy

Andrew J. Nathan

Why do East and Southeast Asia’s autocracies enjoy more support from their publics than do the region’s democracies?

October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4

Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Nondemocratic Pluralism in Indonesia

For the second straight time, voters rejected a presidential candidate with ties to undemocratic Islamist forces, but victorious incumbent Joko Widodo felt compelled to tone down his support for liberalism.

October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4

Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Democratic Demolition in Thailand

Duncan McCargo

The military junta that seized power in 2014 finally organized an election in 2019, but with the goal of preventing rather than facilitating a return to civilian rule.

October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4

Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Duterte versus the Rule of Law

The first half of President Rodrigo Duterte’s single six-year term saw steady erosion of legal barriers against abuses of power, typified by a bloody and extralegal “drug war.” Yet in midterm Senate elections, Filipino voters gave him a decisive victory.

October 2019, Volume 30, Issue 4

Southeast Asia’s Troubling Elections: Is There a Silver Lining?

Mark R. Thompson

A trio of national ballotings in 2019 tell a tale of waxing authoritarianism in Southeast Asia, but things could have turned out worse.

January 2019, Volume 30, Issue 1

Cambodia’s Transition to Hegemonic Authoritarianism

Lee Morgenbesser

A crackdown on the opposition, followed by sham parliamentary elections in July 2018, has deepened and extended the decades-long personalist dictatorship of Hun Sen.

October 2018, Volume 29, Issue 4

The Downfall of Malaysia’s Ruling Party

Sophie Lemière

In Malaysia’s May 2018 general election, a grand bargain between ex–prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and reform leader Anwar Ibrahim produced a political earthquake that ended 61 years of rule by the United Malays National Organization (UMNO).

April 2018, Volume 29, Issue 2

China in Xi’s “New Era”: Singapore and Goliath?

Donald K. Emmerson

Despite its tiny size, Singapore has shown that a firm stance can help to resist Chinese encroachment.

January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1

Burma: Suu Kyi’s Missteps

Zoltan Barany

Despite high hopes for progress toward democracy, the military’s power remains stubbornly entrenched, while Aung San Suu Kyi seems to lack the skills to run the government effectively.

January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1

The Rise of Kleptocracy: Malaysia’s Missing Billions

Cynthia Gabriel

One of the world’s worst public-corruption scandals shows how a lax international financial system enables massive graft in developing countries.

January 2018, Volume 29, Issue 1

Timor-Leste Votes: Parties and Patronage

In July 2017, Timor-Leste held its third parliamentary elections since independence. The party-centered campaign featured both enduring legacies of the revolutionary struggle and a distinct form of political patronage.

April 2017, Volume 28, Issue 2

Southeast Asia: Voting Against Disorder

Thomas Pepinsky

Rodrigo Duterte’s rise to the presidency of the Philippines reflects a broader trend in Southeast Asia of voters favoring politicians who elevate order above law. What does the history of “voting against disorder” in Indonesia and Thailand imply for the future of democracy in the Philippines?

October 2016, Volume 27, Issue 4

The Vote in the Philippines: Electing A Strongman

The surprise victory of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines’ May 2016 presidential election represents a major shift in the liberal-democratic regime established thirty years ago after the “people power” revolution.

April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2

Burma Votes for Change: The Challenges Ahead

Igor Blazevic

Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy swept Burma’s November 2015 elections. Will the new NLD-led government be able to live up to high expectations that it will deliver better governance, national reconciliation, and some form of federalism?

April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2

Burma Votes for Change: The New Configuration of Power

Min Zin

Even though Burma’s military seems to have accepted the NLD’s stunning election victory, it can still use an array of constitutional provisions to hamstring the incoming NLD government.

April 2016, Volume 27, Issue 2

Burma Votes for Change: Clashing Attitudes Toward Democracy

What does public opinion tell us about Burma’s longer-term prospects for democracy? The Asian Barometer Survey reveals contradictory attitudes regarding democracy and democratic values among the citizens of Burma.

January 2016, Volume 27, Issue 1

China and the “Singapore Model”

China’s government looks to Singapore, the only country in the region to modernize without liberalizing, in hopes of finding the key to combining authoritarian rule with economic progress and “good governance.”

October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4

Indonesia’s 2014 Elections: Parliament and Patronage

Edward Aspinall

Indonesia’s 2014 legislative elections went smoothly. Yet the “money politics” that featured so heavily in these contests suggests a grave need to reform the country’s electoral system.

October 2014, Volume 25, Issue 4

Indonesia’s 2014 Elections: How Jokowi Won and Democracy Survived

Marcus Mietzner

Indonesians came close to electing as their new president a populist challenger promising to restore the country’s predemocratic order. Democracy prevailed in the end, but its continued vulnerability was exposed.

April 2014, Volume 25, Issue 2

How Indonesia Won a Constitution

Marcus Mietzner

A review of Constitutional Change and Democracy in Indonesia by Donald L. Horowitz.

October 2013, Volume 24, Issue 4

Malaysia’s Elections: A Step Backward

Bridget Welsh

Despite losing the popular vote, Malaysia’s long-ruling Barisan Nasional triumphed again in the country’s 2013 elections, disappointing an emboldened opposition that had high hopes after a strong performance in 2008.

April 2013, Volume 24, Issue 2

Southeast Asia: Sources of Regime Support

Data from the latest wave of the Asian Barometer Survey show commonalities and variations in the sources of regime support in Southeast Asian countries. Most regimes—democracies and nondemocracies alike—draw political legitimacy from perceptions of effective and upright governance.

January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1

Southeast Asia: In The Shadow of China

Benjamin Reilly

Given Southeast Asia’s relatively high level of socioeconomic development, we might expect it to be a showcase of democracy. Yet it is not. To grasp why, one must look to deeper factors of history and geography.

January 2013, Volume 24, Issue 1

Papua New Guinea: From Coup to Reconciliation

R.J. May

A 2011 power struggle spawned a crisis that marred Papua New Guinea’s unbroken record of democratic rule. Has the country found its way back?

October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4

The Opening in Burma: The Democrats’ Opportunity

The Burmese transition that began in 2011 will be a protracted process. The main challenge now is to build a state in which democracy can take root and grow.

October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4

The Opening in Burma: The Generals Loosen Their Grip

Mary Callahan

Although active or retired military officers still hold top government posts, direct rule by the military as an institution is over, at least for now.

October 2012, Volume 23, Issue 4

The Opening in Burma: Strengthening Civil Society

Min Ko Naing

For the country to develop, it needs an informed and engaged citizenry that has the knowledge and freedom to question those in power.

April 2012, Volume 23, Issue 2

Southeast Asia: Minding the Gap Between Democracy and Governance

Donald K. Emmerson

Do democracy and good governance necessarily go hand-in-hand? In most Southeast Asian countries, a gap exists between the two. How should we understand good governance in an authoritarian context? And what does poor governance mean for the legitimacy of democracy?

July 2008, Volume 19, Issue 3

ASEAN’s “Black Swans”

Donald K. Emmerson

Can regionalism help to redress the uneven spread and internal weaknesses of democracy in Southeast Asia? Unforeseen events in the region and positive political entrepreneurship may yet transform ASEAN into a force for democracy.

October 2001, Volume 12, Issue 4

Whatever Happened to “Asian Values”?

Mark R. Thompson

In the wake of the East Asian economic crisis of 1997-98, how has the appeal to “Asian Values” fared as a rhetorical prop for undemocratic rule?

April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2

The Return of “People Power” in the Philippines

Carl H. Landé

The mass demonstrations that ousted President Joseph Estrada recalled those that had brought down dictator Ferdinand Marcos 15 years earlier. Yet the return of “People Power” raises some concerns about the health of Filipino democracy.

January 2001, Volume 12, Issue 1

Malaysia’s Resilient Pseudodemocracy

William Case

While many of the world’s pseudodemocracies have lately made the transition to “unadulterated” democracy, Malaysia and its leader, Mahathir Mohamad, have successfully bucked this trend.

October 1999, Volume 10, Issue 4