The Democratic Rollback? Democracy in East-Asia

Slide 1: The Democratic Rollback? By FILI AN With reference to … The Resurgence of the Predatory State, Larry Diamond, From Foreign Affairs, March/April 2008 -1-

Slide 2: Larry Diamond Professor of Political Science and Sociology, Stanford University. Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Founding co-editor of the Journal of Democracy. Related Books: – The Spirit of Democracy – Developing Democracy: Toward Consolidation – Promoting Democracy in the 1990s – Political Culture and Democracy in developing Countries ed. (Reference : Prof. Diamond’s website at Stanford) -2- -2-

Slide 3: The Democratization Wave By 2000 – 60% of the world’s independent counties democratic. East-Asia : South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia. (Reference : Following data and charts are from the Freedom House 2008 report) -3- -3-

Slide 4: What’s Democracy about? Not sure there is one “definition”… Majority rule (/representative). Rule of Law / Equality before law. Civil liberties & human rights – speech, press, religion, privacy, own property, fair trail etc. Balanced separated powers – government, parliament, judiciary, press... What else? -4- -4-

Slide 5: Freedom House – the definition of “Free” “Freedom is the opportunity to act spontaneously … outside the control of the government … “ Political rights - “Participate freely in the political process through the right to … – Vote. – Compete for public office. – Elect representatives who have a decisive impact on public policies and are accountable to the electorate” Civil liberties – “Freedoms of expression and belief, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, and personal autonomy without interference from the state“ -5- -5-

Slide 6: Freedom – Who’s Free in East Asia? The report ranks every country on Country - (PR, CL) a seven point scale in two categories (1 highest, 7 lowest) • Japan - 1, 2 • South Korea - 1, 2 “Political Rights" (PR) • Taiwan - 2, 1 “Civil Liberties" (CL) • Mongolia - 2, 2 • Indonesia - 2, 3 • Philippines - 4, 3 • Malaysia - 4, 4 (down) • Singapore - 5, 4 • Thailand - 6, 4 • Cambodia - 6, 5 • Brunei - 6, 5 • Vietnam - 7, 5 • China - 7, 6 • Laos - 7, 6 • Burma - 7,7 (down) • North Korea - 7, 7 -6- -6-

Slide 7: Freedom - What’s happening in East Asia – 2007-8 “A number of Asia’s most important countries suffered freedom setbacks during 2007”-8 Burma – Violence against peaceful demonstrations. China – Crack down: Political activists, online journalists, human-rights lawyers. – Olympics : “Antidemocratic environment”. – Growing pressure on Tibet. Malaysia – Tighter control : online media crackdown, suppression of opposition-led protests. Philippines - High-level corruption allegations. Thailand – Recovering from a military cope. Re-electing the Thaksin’s party allies. -7- -7-

Slide 8: Perception of Democracy -> Negative trend Decreasing faith in the democratic political system – Politicians, parties, government officials. Examples : Asian Barometer – Philippines (2001 -> 2005) – “Democracy is Best” : 64% -> 51%. – Satisfaction with Democracy : 54% -> 39%. – Rejection of Authoritarian Rule : 70% -> 59%. Afrobarometer – Nigeria (2000 -> 2005) – “Government is fighting corruption” : 64% -> 36% -8- -8-

Slide 9: World-wide “Democratic Recession” Nigeria, Russia – Expansion of executive power, intimidation of the opposition, rigging the electoral process. – The people embrace stronger authoritarian leader (Vlademir Potin) Venezuela – The people embrace stronger authoritarian leader President Hugo Chavez almost passing a referendum to give him unlimited power. Control. Kenya – Ethnic violence regarding Electoral Fraud (2007). -9- -9-

Slide 10: What’s the core problem? - Elections Elections – “The Fallacy of Electoralism” : Democracy isn’t all about elections. – Potential “Electoral Authoritarianism” : Elections aren’t always democratic. Other strong democracies (US, Europe) accept “superficial democracies”, often mixing economics and politics. - 10 - - 10 -

Slide 11: Elections - Democracy requires… Freedom to advocate, associate, contest, and campaign. Fair and neutral electoral administration. A widely credible system of dispute resolution. Balanced access to mass media. Independent vote monitoring. - 11 - - 11 -

Slide 12: What’s the core problem? - Governance “Monopoly of Power” - Rule of the Elite - nearly everyone feels powerless, exploited, and unhappy. “Predatory societies” – Use any means necessary and break any rules possible to gain power and wealth. “Social distrust” - Thin line between police and criminals. Robert Putnam, Douglass North, John Wallis, and Barry Weingast – Problem is … “Bad governance is not an aberration or an illness to be cured, but rather a natural condition”. - 12 - - 12 -

Slide 13: Governance - Democracy requires … Freedom, justice, and a fairer society through : It takes time to make it work - ongoing commitment to the principles of democracy. Democratic Balance – Accountable Government. – Judicial system and Rule of Law : Law enforcement, crime and corruption containment. – Independent organizations, mass media, and think tanks. Generating steady solid economic growth while ensuring economic equality. Professionalism & open market economy? - 13 - - 13 -

Slide 14: Governance - Transforming Predator Societies… Civic involvement and consciousness. Forming impartial rules and democratic institutions (political parties, parliaments, and local governments). – better, stronger, and more – transparency and accessibility . Accountability – Vertical (by the public) : Genuine democratic election with strict integrity and neutrality, public hearings, citizen audits, the regulation of campaign finance, and a freedom-of-information act – Horizontal (by the counterpart agencies) : Independent with resources - Legal authority, professional staffs, public audits, parliamentary oversight committees, etc. - 14 - - 14 -

Slide 15: My take on things - Maslow on a social scale Human needs -> Social needs. Social Physiological and Safety should be satisfied in order to allow a confident long- lasting Social-actualization. - 15 - - 15 -

Slide 16: My take on things - Democracy Democracy – least worst. It’s not near perfect, but it’s the best we have. It’s essentially working - People in strong enduring democracies – see and constantly complain about the weaknesses, but wouldn’t trade it for anything else. The main democratic strength – A work in process for the whole society. – A self-evolving political system. – Focusing on rights and liberties. - 16 - - 16 -

Slide 17: My take on things - World’s Democratic Recession I’m optimistic. Up to the people - There’s no such thing “cultural tendencies to freedom or democracy”, yet it’s up to the people in different nations to figure out what’s right for them. Democracy can take many forms. Democracy can’t be rushed into - It took Europe and the US hundreds of years and it’s still in process. People’s Democracy - Democracy has to come from the people. It can not be forced upon. People need to want it. - 17 - - 17 -