The Persistence of Autocracy in Asia: Internal and External Factors

Abstract

Although Asia has enjoyed rapid economic growth and social development in the last decades, only a comparatively small number of Asian countries have become democracies. Asia is home not only to some of the world’s oldest autocracies, but also offers a very heterogeneous selection of authoritarian regime forms. Thus, the examination of autocracies in this part of the world is fruitful in at least two respects: first, it will help us answer the question if the wide-spread persistence of autocracy here can at least partly be explained by environmental factors such as regional economic structures, the prevalence of a certain political culture, mutual learning or effects of contagion. Second, examining the differences in authoritarian regime forms and -practices in Asia will help us classify and evaluate elite strategies aimed at ensuring regime survival. In particular, contributions to the panel will address the following questions: What are the internal and external factors that determine the survival of authoritarian regimes in Asia? What is the role of elites, social groups, institutions and political culture, and how do these factors influence each other? Which regime practices contribute to the consolidation of authoritarian regimes, and which to their deconsolidation? How are strategies such as coercion, institutionalization and propaganda utilized, and how do they interact? Why do elites choose different survival strategies, and why have similar forms of authoritarianism survived in some countries, but not in others? The panel is aimed at attracting both single case and comparative papers that strike a balance between empirical data (quantitative and qualitative) and relevant, critical and audacious general theoretical questions/debates. The main focus will be on East- and South East Asia, but contributions focusing on South- and Central Asia will also be taken into consideration.

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