Seminar in Political Science

1. INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE
POLITICS (POLS215)
SILANG, IVY MARIE M.
RAMOS, RENELL VINCENT C.
ABPOLSCI4-1

2. INFLUENCES AND EXPERIENCES
INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS (POLS215)

3. Influences and Experiences
Southeast Asia, a region of remarkable
diversity, consists of eleven countries with
differing histories, cultural traditions,
resource bases, and political - economic
systems.

4. Influences and Experiences
There are few characteristics that links all
these nations into a coherent whole.

5. Influences and Experiences
These influences and experiences include
– religious penetration by Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and
Christianity;
– colonialism and introduction of political ideas from the
West;
– the rise of nationalism associated with the struggle for
independence;
– Japanese occupation;
– Cold War trauma;
– and regional economic transition.

6. Influences and Experiences
Shared social patterns include
– a strong sense of the village as the primary unit of
traditional identity;
– agricultural economies overtaken by urban-based
manufacturing and service economies; and
– patron-client systems that influence sociopolitical
interaction.

7. COMPARING POLITICAL REGIMES
INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS (POLS215)

8. Comparing Political Regimes
Because of the great diversity among Southeast
Asian states, as well as the many influences and
changes they experience over time, categorizing
Southeast Asian political regimes is difficult and
must be complemented by analyzing the unique
attributes of each country’s experience.

9. Comparing Political Regimes
If one is primarily interested in identifying the
regime types of Southeast Asia’s countries, a
standard approach would be to use accepted
regime classifications and to analyze which
countries fit those definitions.

10. Comparing Political Regimes
By employing Larry Diamond’s six-fold typology
and the widely used Freedom House ratings
(free, partly free, and not free), such an analysis
is possible and fairly straightforward.

11. Comparing Political Regimes
Regime classification is useful for general comparisons, but
it does not adequately portray Southeast Asian nations
over time.

12. Comparing Political Regimes
The difficulties and limitations of categorizing
the Southeast Asian political systems emphasize
the importance of viewing them as highly
diverse and worthy of analysis from the vantage
point of their unique attributes.

13. Comparing Political Regimes
The Introduction to Comparative Politics begins with
Thailand, Myanmar (Burma), Vietnam, Cambodia, and
Laos—the countries of Peninsular Southeast Asia
(sometimes referred to as “Mainland Southeast Asia”). The
course then completes with lessons on the Philippines,
Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Malaysia, Singapore, and
Brunei—the countries of Insular Southeast Asia
(sometimes referred to as “Maritime Southeast Asia”).

14. MAINLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA
INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS (POLS215)

15. Thailand
Thailand ranks among Southeast Asia’s
“tiger economies” and is considered an
economic success story with wide global
recognition.

16. This success stems from a history of astute
adaptation of those aspects of modernization and
development that were appropriate to traditional
Thai ways, especially adaptations that ensured the
maintenance of two key cultural institutions:

17. Buddhism and monarchism.

18. Throughout their history, as citizens of the only
Southeast Asian nation never to have been
colonized, the Thais never had a foreign culture
forcibly thrust upon them. Instead, they have
searched, adapted, and struggled to create their
own path to economic and political development
amidst the dynamic influences of a global society.

19. Thailand’s progress toward political
liberalization and democracy is all the more
striking given that for centuries the
government was autocratic in form and
spirit.

20. Power was the privilege of a small elite as
well as of absolute monarchs who were not
accountable to the people and whose
authority was enhanced by an aura of
divinity attached to the highest levels of
office.

21. Myanmar (Burma)
Burma, like other Southeast Asian countries,
is diverse, but uniquely so. About a dozen
major ethnic groups and scores of smaller
minorities make up more than one-third of
the total population of 48 million.

22. More than any other feature, Burma’s
geodemography—its large core majority
group surrounded by a mosaic of divergent
minority groups—influences and shapes the
country’s politics.

23. In the international era, most Southeast
Asian countries embraced the opportunity
for economic development and political
liberalization following the collapse of Cold
War tensions. Burma has been the clear
exception.

24. Vietnam
The majority of Vietnam’s 88 million people work in
agriculture. Formerly, most Vietnamese practiced
Mahayana Buddhism, but Vietnamese society has
been secularized since independence and now
most residents do not actively practice or pursue
religious beliefs. Nationalism has been the key
concept for understanding Vietnamese politics.

25. Vietnam
Vietnam today is a Southeast Asian success
story—one qualified nonetheless by the cost
single-party rule imposes on civil liberties,
political freedom, and official justice.

26. Cambodia
Since its independence, modern Cambodia has
proven to be among the world’s weakest states.
Viewed from the outside, this weakness is
indicated by repeated episodes of foreign
occupation as well as penetration of the state
by domestic elite interests.

27. Cambodia
Following UNTAC’s departure, the
fundamental weakness of the Cambodian
state has continued due in large part to Hun
Sen’s expanding network apparatus, which
has displaced the development of
autonomous state institutions.

28. Cambodia
Even today, Cambodia has few experienced
technocrats whose loyalty is primarily to the
state; its army is weak and undependable,
and its judges and courts are compromised.
Virtually all state officials are beholden to
Hun Sen’s inner circle and largesse.

29. Laos
Contemporary Laos has changed little over
the decades. It remains a largely rural,
subsistence, agrarian society of some 6.2
million people divided among over forty
ethnic groups, with the dominant lowland
Lao consisting of just over 4 million people.

30. Laos
The population density of Laos is the lowest
of all Asian countries. Theravada Buddhism,
variably blended with local spirit beliefs,
predominates among the Lao and among
many upland groups.

31. Laos
The communist victory changed Lao politics
fundamentally. For centuries the region had
been dominated by a small group of wealthy
families that wielded great political and
economic influence.

32. Laos
Most of those families fled to Thailand,
Europe, or the United States, and those that
remained underwent “reeducation” programs
to cleanse them of their “bourgeois
mentality.”

33. MARITIME SOUTHEAST ASIA
INTRODUCTION TO COMPARATIVE POLITICS (POLS215)

34. Philippines
In the quest for political and economic
development, the experience of the Philippines is
unique in Southeast Asia. The Philippines
experienced a longer colonization and greater
influence from the West than any country in the
region.

35. Philippines
The Philippines today faces difficulties that
first arose during colonialism: oligarchic
politics, personalism, chronic economic
inequality, church-state tensions, and a
fascination with celebrity.

36. Indonesia
Post-independence Indonesia can be divided into four
periods, separated by one- to two-year transition phases:
(1)fragile parliamentary governance under Sukarno,
1950–1957;
(2) “guided democracy” under Sukarno, 1959–1965;
(3) the “New Order” under Suharto, 1967–1998; and
(4) liberal democratic reform under multiple presidents,
1999–present.

37. Indonesia
The first period featured numerous political parties,
elections, and weak parliamentary government. These
Western-style governmental forms—adopted to prove to
Indonesians that they could govern themselves in a
“modern” democratic manner—did not fit well with
traditional Indonesian culture, which placed little value on
representation, group formation, and majority rule. Sukarno
pejoratively referred to democracy as “50 percent plus one”
governance.

38. Indonesia
Eventually, westernized institutions were
blamed for the government’s inability to
meet the people’s economic needs.

39. Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste’s state is dependent and fragile.
Technically sovereign, it can be described
(somewhat singularly) as an “infant state”—a
state engaged in a needy, agnatic relationship
with the international community through its
UN parentage.

40. Timor-Leste
Although sometimes classified as a failed state,
Timor-Leste is so new as a political entity that it is
difficult to equate it with countries that genuinely
experienced a measurable loss of sovereign
control, central authority, or capacity for self-
governance (such as Somalia, Zimbabwe, or
Afghanistan).

41. Timor-Leste
Having yet to achieve a measurable degree of
state autonomy or capacity in the first place,
Timor-Leste is disproportionately dependent on
foreign support for its very being.

42. Malaysia
Malaysia is in many respects Southeast Asia’s most
admirable achiever. Though generally classified as an
illiberal democracy, Malaysia is more pluralist than
Singapore, more politically stable than Thailand, and
less corrupt than the Philippines. Malaysia has also
more successfully managed ethnic and religious conflict
than its geocultural cousin Indonesia.

43. Malaysia
With a population of 28.8 million people and a per capita
GNI of $8,420, Malaysia recently achieved newly
industrialized country status. It currently boasts a poverty
rate of only 4 percent. Only the citizens of microstates
Singapore and Brunei enjoy a higher standard of living
in the region. The Malaysian success story is especially
noteworthy because of the country’s geographic and racial
diversity.

44. Malaysia
There is no more powerful force in
Malaysian society than communalism, or the
division of the country into racial
communities: 55 percent Malay, 25 percent
Chinese, 7 percent Indian, and the rest
smaller minority and migrant groups.

45. Singapore
The quest for survival, order, and prosperity is a
dominant theme of contemporary Singaporean
politics. Surrounded by countries hundreds of
times larger in area, with populations twenty to fifty
times greater, this island city-state is in many
respects a speck in a region of giant nations—
even tiny Hong Kong is twice its size.

46. Singapore
As an urban entrepôt with virtually no
agricultural base, Singapore stands alone,
bereft of the resources and land of its
Southeast Asian neighbors.

47. Singapore
The themes of survival, prosperity, and order have become
fused in Singapore to produce a unique style of politics and
economic life. The fusion stems from colonial times, when
the British controlled Singapore, making it dependent on
British economic policies. After achieving limited
independence in 1957, Singapore granted Britain control
over its external affairs and security matters out of fear of a
seizure of power by the communists or by external
intervention.

48. Singapore
To achieve full independence, the Singaporean
economic system established interdependence in
the global economic system, and the country allied
with its northern neighbor, Malaya, which
complemented Singapore economically.

49. Brunei
Brunei, known formally as Negara Brunei Darussalam
(Brunei, Abode of Peace), is on the island of Borneo facing
north to the South China Sea. It is divided into two sectors
surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Brunei
achieved internal self-government in 1959 when the
sultan promulgated the country’s first constitution,
thereby ending British administration and ensuring
that power would be transferred to the ruling dynasty
rather than to the people.

50. Brunei
Brunei is not threatened by any external power, the country
has adopted a low-key foreign policy that is more reactive
than proactive. It main concerns are participating in ASEAN
programs and building its diplomatic missions abroad to
ensure trade and investment for the Brunei economy.
Brunei supported efforts to create AFTA, the ASEAN Free
Trade Area, and successfully negotiated a free trade
agreement with Japan, which imports 90 percent of
Brunei’s liquefied natural gas.

51. Brunei
It also became a member of the Trans-Pacific
Strategic Economic Partnership, a free trade bod
inclusive of Brunei, Singapore, Chile, and New
Zealand that aims to eliminate all tariffs between
members by 2015. In 2013, Brunei assumes the
chai of ASEAN amidst growing tensions
surrounding the Spratly Islands dispute.

52. WHY NATIONS FAIL: INTENSIFYING INCOME
INEQUALITY AS HINDRANCE TO POWER AND
PROSPERITY

53. Income Inequality
Income inequality is one of the most profound social,
economic, and political challenges of our time. A survey
conducted by Pew Research Center (2014) found that
more than 60% of worldwide respondents regard the gap
between the rich and the poor as a major concern.

54. Income Inequality
Piketty (2014) draws an unequivocal conclusion that growing inequality
between rich and poor — between the owners of capital and the rest of
society — is the normal state of affairs under capitalism; periods of
decreasing inequality, such as during the post-war boom, are the
exception, not the rule. The gap is at its highest level in decades for
advanced economies (Dabla-Norris et al. 2015), while the inequality
trend has been rising in many developing countries. In Asia, despite
recent economic growth, income distribution has been worsening
as well.

55. Income Inequality
Many factors such as globalization, technological
change, financial development, and demographic
changes, among others, have been identified as drivers of
growing income inequality.

56. Economic consequences of income inequality
The possibility for middle-income countries to fall into the “middle-
income trap” is real (ADB 2011). If that occurs, Asia’s share of world
gross domestic product by 2050 would be 32%, only a small increase
from 27.4% in 2010. A middle-income trap could occur not only if a
country fails to augment its productivity, but also if there is a worsening
of income distribution, which itself is related to economic structural
changes.

57. Economic consequences of income inequality
Worsening income inequality would cause
social unrest and become a drag on economic
growth. Also, income inequality is related to the
limits of “human development” (UNDP 2011).

58. Social and political consequences of income inequality
Growing disparities can entail huge social costs by
undermining individuals’ education and occupational
choices, damaging trust and eroding social cohesion,
undermining the quality of governance, and increasing
pressure for inefficient populist policies. This is because
inequality is frequently associated with rent seeking, which
has a corrosive effect on morale, societal solidarity, and
fairness.

59. Social and political consequences of income inequality
Moreover, income distribution affects a country’s
political structure. If high inequality prevents lower-
income groups from influencing political decisions, it may
result in loss of trust and generate political instability
(Alesina and Perotti 1996; Keefer and Knack 2002). In
other cases, high inequality could lead to poor public
policies that may hurt growth in the long run.

60. Social and political consequences of income inequality
The lower-income voters may demand higher taxation and
regulation, which may negatively affect investment in the
country (Persson and Tabellini 1994). Political backlash
due to high inequality may force governments to enact
populist measures and protectionist measures, which, in
the short term, benefit the lower end of the income
distribution, but are detrimental to long-term growth
(Alesina and Rodrik 1994).

61. Social and political consequences of income inequality
Political influence from the elite may also adversely affect
provision of public services such as education, healthcare,
and infrastructure. Lack of trust in business groups and
rising deprivation among lowerincome groups may increase
crime and violence, further affecting the investment climate
and political environment in the country (Fajnzylber,
Lederman, and Loayza 2002). When people crowd at the
top and bottom of the economic ladder, there may be a
hollowing out of the middle class, which is important in
maintaining stability and economic growth.

62. Social and political consequences of income inequality
In general, the clustering of population, often referred to as polarization,
can have more damaging impacts than income inequality (Wang and
Wan 2015). Individuals at the lower level of incomes in unequal
societies may try to compare and imitate consumption patterns of the
rich. This phenomenon of conspicuous consumption, i.e., when lower-
income groups prioritize luxury goods over necessities to signal higher
status, has been found to have large environmental costs. Further,
inequality is also found to have a negative linkage with nutrition.
Pickett et al. (2005) found that the proportion of obese people in the
total population was higher for more unequal countries.

63. SOURCES AND REFERENCES
• Southeast Asia’s widening inequalities retrieved at
https://theaseanpost.com/article/southeast-asias-widening-inequalities
• The Politics of Inequality in Southeast Asia: A Comparative- Historical
Perspective by Erik Martinez Kuhonta retrieved at
https://www.globalasia.org/v11no2/cover/the-politics-of-inequality-in-
southeast-asia-a-comparative--historical-perspective_erik-martinez-
kuhonta#:~:text=First%2C%20Southeast%20Asia%20exhibits%20significan
t,very%20low%20levels%20of%20inequality
• Demystifying Rising Inequality in Asia retrieved at
https://www.adb.org/publications/demystifying-rising-inequality-asia