Kiichi Fujiwara

Democracy, as a magic word, has gone through several meanings in Asia. Cartini in Indonesia and Jose Rizal in Philippines defined democracy as independent from colonialism. During the Cold War period, the term democracy was used versus the ‘free world.’ ‘Democracy’ was a leftist word against governments allied with the U.S. Finally, transition to democracy occurred with in Philippines in 1986, the Republic of Korea in 1987, Thailand in 1992, and Indonesia in 1998. In these cases political alternatives were not between left and the right but between democracy and authoritarianism.

However, democracy in the region is not without its problems. Democratic consolidation has included many illiberal aspects, underscoring the gap between the reality of democratic institutions on the one hand and aspirations and ideals on the other. Fujiwara explored four types of democratic regimes that are characterized by their defective tendencies. The first is “exclusive democracy” in which certain social groups are excluded from the political process. Examples include the U.S. before 1964 and Israel. In a “tutelary democracy” certain political groups retain veto power over key political decisions, for example, in the case of Indonesian military. Third, “delegative democracy” is where a large amount of political power is delegated to and concentrated in the executive. The fourth type of defective democratic regime is “illiberal democracy” in which democratic institutions are tamed so as to permit the same group of political leaders to govern the country as in Japan.

There are generally two ways that these regimes can evolve: either develop into a ‘full’ democracy or regress toward authoritarian rule. However, it is also possible that these defective democracies will stay relatively unchanged for the foreseeable future. muddle along.

Japan is the oldest democracy in Asia. The country was the first in the region to have a democratic constitution election based on universal franchise. However, Japan is also an illiberal democracy. Major government decrees are left out of formal legislation and there is a lack of political competition. The Liberal Democratic Party is a coalition of small conservative parties that have retained political power. This type of illiberal democracy may have been created in Japan due to the lack of nationalism during the creation of the post-war political system. Democracy is observed as ‘imposed’ from the U.S., leading to nationalist reactions against democratic institutions in general.

In 1993, the LDP stepped down from power, but events did not follow the course in other democratic countries such as India, Mexico, or Italy where long-ruling parties were also forced from office. Weak opposition parties were not able to capitalize and LDP quickly reasserted its dominant position. The separation of formal institutions and actual political power has contributed to illiberal democracy in Japan.

Zakiyah Lily Munir

Munir presented a comprehensive case study of Indonesia. The religion of Islam is “like a double-edged sword.” Religion is powerful in its ability to mobilize support among the masses. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th , Islam has been equated with violence and terror. However, Islam is misunderstood. For example, little is understood about its spiritual elements and its essential humanitarianism. Islam is generally thought of as concentrated in the Arab World, but Islam is a universal religion.

Is Islam compatible with democracy? Relations between the two have never been comprehensively discussed, leading to over simplification of complex dynamics. There is a gap between Koranic norms and reality. The Koran is interpreted in many different ways.

In Indonesia, Islamic fundamentalism has emerged and grown stronger in the absence effective governing institutions. There is a revival of patriarchy involved with Islamic values through the enforcement of physical identities. Social problems in Muslim communities have not been addressed by local governments. There are four elements of identifying problems: interpretation of text; accusing opponents of being infidels; anti-gender equality; and anthro-centrism, ignoring the social dimension of religion.

Vo Van Ai

Vietnam is a closed society with a communist government. There is only one state party and no opposition.