This book challenges the view that liberal democracy is the inevitable outcome of economic modernization. Focusing on the stable and prosperous societies of Pacific Asia, it argues that contemporary political arrangements are legitimised by the values of hierarchy, familism and harmony. An arrangement that clearly contrasts with a western understanding of political liberalism and the communicatory democracy it facilitates. Instead of political change resulting from a demand for autonomy by interest groups in civil society, the adoption of democratic practice in Asia ought to be viewed primarily as a state strategy to manage socio-economic change.

Autorentext

DANIEL A. BELL
DAVID BROWN
KANISHKA JAYASURIYA
DAVID MARTIN JONES

Inhalt

Preface - Understanding Illiberal Democracy: A Framework; D. Bell & K. Jayasuriya - Democracy in Confucian Societies: The Challenge of Justification; D. Bell - Democracy and Identity: The Paradoxical Character of Political Development; D.M. Jones - Democratization and the Myth of the Liberalising Middle Classes; D. Brown & D.M. Jones - The Political Economy of Democratization; K. Jayasuriya - Democratization and the Renegotiation of Ethnicity; D. Brown - A Postcard from Su(e)topia - Index