Democracy in Southeast Asia—An Assessment of Practices, Problems and Prospects 19 Aurel Croissant and Marco Bünte
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02/2010 PANORAMA INSIGHTS INTO ASIAN AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS A FUTURE FOR DEMOCRACY K o n r a d A d e n a u e r S t i f t u n g Panorama: Insights into Asian and European Affairs is a series of occasional papers published by the Konrad- Adenauer-Stiftung’s “Regional Programme Political Dialogue Asia/Singapore”. © 2011 Copyright by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Singapore All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Editor: Dr. Wilhelm Hofmeister Sub-editors: Megha Sarmah Patrick Rüppel Publisher: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung 34/36 Bukit Pasoh Road Singapore 089848 Tel: (65) 6227-2001 Tel: (65) 6227-8343 Email: [email protected] Website: http//:www.kas.de/singapore Manuscript offers, review copies, exchange journals, and requests for subscription are to be sent to the editors. The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. Design, Layout and Typeset: Select Books Pte Ltd 65A, Jalan Tenteram #02-06, St Michael’s Industrial Estate Singapore 328958 Website: www.selectbooks.com.sg PAnORAMA InsIghTs InTO AsIAn AnD EUROPEAn AFFAIRs A FUTURE FOR DEMOCRACY Contents PREFACE 9 Return of the Dictatorships? 13 Wolfgang Merkel Democracy in Southeast Asia—An Assessment of Practices, Problems and Prospects 19 Aurel Croissant and Marco Bünte Thai Democracy: Recessed, Regressed, Repressed? 41 Pavin Chachavalpongpun Democracy in Cambodia: Progress, Challenges, and Pathway 51 Sopheap Chak Democracy in Indonesia: Staggering towards Consolidation 59 Bob S. Hadiwinata and Ivana Agustin The Future of Democracy in Malaysia 81 James Chin Democratic Deficits in the Philippines 91 Clarita R. Carlos and Dennis M. Lalata with Dianne C. Despi and Portia R. Carlos The Challenges and Prospect of Taiwan’s Democracy 105 Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao and L.C. Russell Hsiao >> click titles to access articles Democracy in Pakistan 117 Hasan Askari Rizvi Russian Confusion About Democracy 137 Fyodor Lukyanov The State of Democracy in South Africa 153 Terence Corrigan, Yarik Turianskyi and Steven Gruzd Democracy in Latin America 179 Wilhelm Hofmeister >> click titles to access articles Preface A car is a car. We don’t need broad discussions about the constituent elements of a “car”, although there are considerable differences between individual types of cars. A limousine is bigger than a small city sprinter; a family sedan is more comfortable than a sports car, which has space for only one or two people but which has a strong and roaring motor. Something that goes on rails, floats in the water or flies in the air may also be a means of transportation but these things are different from a car. The same logic applies to democracy. Democracy is a specific form of govern- ment. Even in those countries where democracy is not “the only game in town”, people are well aware of the essence of democracy. We may summarize it in three elements: a meaningful and extensive competition among individuals and organized groups for all effective positions of government power; a highly inclusive level of political par- ticipation in the selection of leaders and policies, at least through regular free and fair elections; and a high level of civil and political liberties—freedom of expression, free- dom of press, and freedom to form and join organizations. How these elements are organized in an individual country is not so relevant as long as they are recognized and realized in principle. Democracy is democracy, also in its different forms of con- cretization. Obviously, there exist other forms of government that are not democratic, and although these governments may try to present their regimes as a democracy, one cannot sell people a ship for a car. Democracy is a relevant issue. In practically all countries of the globe people are looking for democracy, because there is a natural and widespread wish to participate in decisions which affect them directly. People want to speak openly, associate with others, comment on public affairs, and sometimes even criticize their governments and politicians; they want to act, to participate and to vote freely. This has not only been recognized by opinion polls but also by governments and international organizations. In Asia, for example, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, in Article 1 of its Charter, adopted in November 2007 in Singapore, outlines as one of the purposes of ASEAN to “strengthen democracy, enhance good governance and the rule of law, and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Hence, we can presume that the promotion and strengthening of democracy is an important objective for the states in this part of the world. However, one should really mean democracy in its essence when referring to this concept in documents and declarations. The ASEAN Charter underlines the relevance of democracy. Nevertheless, since a few years ago, there has been an international discussion about a certain kind of retreat Preface in the development of democracy, or a “democratic recession”. The scepticism has been harboured for instance by conflicts as in the case of Thailand in May 2010, which has 9 been documented by our cover photo. The optimism that accompanied the processes of regime transformation during the 1990s has given way to some more sceptical percep- tions or even frustration with regard to the perspectives to establish democracies all over the world that are characterized by the same basic principles. The end of history is not in sight. Freedom House, a New York-based organization, summarized in its annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties that 2010 was the fifth consecutive year in which global freedom suffered a decline—the longest period of setbacks for freedom in the nearly 40-year history of its report (see: www.freedomhouse.org). This is a worrying trend; at least for those who are convinced that democracy as a form of government corresponds best with the basic needs and interests of human nature. Or to put it in Winston Churchill’s famous dictum: “Democracy is the worst form of govern- ment, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” We took the current discussion on democracy and a supposed “democratic reces- sion” as the pretext to ask a number of authors to analyze the democratic development of different countries and regions. According to the character of our journal, we put the main emphasis on Asia. As demonstrated by these articles, several countries seem to lack substantial requisites for sustainable democracy. Among these problematic factors are: the lack of effective checks and balances between the executive and legislative powers, weak parliaments with low levels of representativeness, and political parties without real roots in their societies and poor developed capacities to articulate the social interests. A judicial system which is not independent from political actors and the general weakness of the state of laws are other institutional debilities one can eas- ily discover in weak democracies. Not to mention endemic corruption, which in some countries seriously undermines the state of law and by this also the consolidation of democracy. Besides these institutional factors, an organized civil society, and particularly a strong, politically self-confident and well-organized industrial working class, can also be identified as a key force in processes of democratization. In Asia, the middle classes seem to be not very keenly in favour of democracy. As Aurel Croissant and Marco Bünte, two authors from Germany represented in this volume, point out with regard to Southeast Asia: “In general, the bourgeoisie and the middle classes have supported their own political inclusion, but at the same time, have favoured political stability, economic development, and secure property rights over the inclusion of subordinate groups and their demand for meaningful political participation, economic redistribu- tion, and social justice.” This did not help exactly the development and consolidation of democracy in this region. A Future for Democracy A 10 Despite those constraints, we are convinced that in general terms, fears of a dem- ocratic rollback are unfounded. Democracy is and will be the purpose for political development; as has been underlined by the ASEAN Charter. But we should be honest with the concept. One should not talk about ships or trains when chatting about cars. And when we say democracy we should mean democracy. Dr. Wilhelm Hofmeister Regional Director Return of the Dictatorships? Wolfgang Merkel The optimism that accompanied the 1990s’ wave of democratization has faded. Many autocratic regimes are likely to persevere. However, fears of a democratic rollback are unfounded. There will be no concerted swing back to an era of dictatorship—but nor can we expect another burst of democratization. Only two decades after Eastern Europe rebelled and “real existing socialism” imploded, prognoses for the spread of democracy are increasingly pessimistic. The Washington-based Freedom House titled its 2007 report, “Freedom in Retreat: Is the Tide Turning?” Journal of Democracy’s founding co-editor Larry Diamond called it “The Democratic Rollback.” Yet a look at two decades of democratization research does not deserve the current pessimism. Since the 1980s shifts in the zeitgeist have influenced theoretical paradigms and thus the results of social science research. Two and three decades ago, waves of democratization led to overly optimistic visions and measurements of global democratization. Perhaps the current pessimism regarding au- tocracy’s rise is an overreaction. Vote “Yes” for Democracy In the 1980s, attention was focused on political and civil society actors who were seen as critical to democratic transformations.