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11. Executive Accountability in Southeast Asia: The Role of Legislatures in New Democracies and Under Electoral Authoritarianism

Author:
William Case
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
In an influential study, Steven Fish and Matthew Kroenig argue that “overarching institutional designs” (i.e., presidential, parliamentary, and dual systems) tell us less about the prospects of a new democracy than does the particular strength of the legislature. Specifically, executive abuses are best checked where legislatures are powerful, generating horizontal accountability. Indeed, Fish and Kroenig suggest that with judiciaries and watchdog agencies weak in most new democracies, the legislature is the only institution by which accountability can be imposed. What is more, ordinary citizens are better informed by the robust party systems that strong legislatures support, fostering vertical accountability. In comparing Freedom House scores with their Parliamentary Powers Index (PPI), Fish and Kroenig show clear correlations, leading them to conclude that democracies are made strong by legislatures that are empowered.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
Indonesia, Malaysia, Asia, Philippines, Cambodia, Singapore, and Southeast Asia

12. India and Indonesia: Renewing Asia's Collective Destiny

Author:
Sourabh Gupta
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Civilizational, cultural, and geographic neighbors, India and Indonesia share striking commonalities in their modern historical trajectories. In both societies, European powers, the Dutch and the British, benefited from the decline of tired Islamic land empires to graft colonial modes of exploitation that progressed fitfully from coast to hinterland to interior. Following proto-nationalist revolt s, the Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and the Java War of 1825-30, both the Dutch and the British skillfully engineered a buffer of indigenous elite collaborators. This strategy succeeded to such an extent that their faraway possessions were governed by less than two hundred and a thousand expatriate administrators, respectively.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, Post Colonialism, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Indonesia, India, and Asia

13. Glum and Glummer in Japan

Author:
Jeffrey Hornung
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
When the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) kicked the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) out of power in 2009, there was some sense of hope amongst the Japanese that things would change. If nothing else, the Japanese hoped that the DPJ would bring new ideas to tackle some of the country's ongoing problems. Reality soon proved otherwise. Not only has the DPJ quietly abandoned many of its campaign pledges, it has proved just as incapable at resolving ongoing problems. Seventeen months into a DPJ-led Japan, Prime Minister Naoto Kan faces a number of domestic problems that threaten his government's survival. The unfortunate result is another expected turn of the revolving door that is the Japanese premiership.
Topic:
Democratization, Politics, and Governance
Political Geography:
Japan, Israel, Asia, and Tokyo

14. Executive Accountability in Southeast Asia: The Role of Legislatures in New Democracies and Under Electoral Authoritarianism

Author:
William Case
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
In an influential study, Fish and Kroenig argue that "overarching institutional designs" (i.e., presidential, parliamentary, and dual systems) tell us less about the prospects of a new democracy than does the particular strength of the legislature. Specifically, executives are best checked where legislatures are powerful, generating horizontal accountability. In addition, ordinary citizens are better informed by the robust party systems that strong legislatures support, fostering vertical accountability. In comparing Freedom House scores with their Parliamentary Powers Index (PPI), Fish and Kroenig show clear correlations, leading them to conclude that democracies are made strong by legislatures that are empowered. In this monograph, this thesis is tested in five country cases in Southeast Asia: the Philippines and Indonesia, both new democracies, and Malaysia, Cambodia, and Singapore, cases of electoral authoritarianism. Analysis uncovers that in the new democracies, though their legislatures may be rated as powerful, members are geared less to checking the executive than to sharing in state patronage. In addition, although the legislature is evaluated as weak under electoral authoritarianism, it features an opposition that, with little access to patronage, remains committed to exposing executive abuses. What is more, when the executive operates a regime type that lacks the full legitimacy gained through general elections, he or she grows more receptive to at least mild legislative scrutiny. Contrary to Fish and Kroenig, then, this study concludes that the executive is held more accountable by legislatures under electoral authoritarianism than in new democracies. But rather than leading to a transition to democratic politics, this accountability strengthens authoritarian rule.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Malaysia, Asia, Cambodia, and Singapore

15. The Dalit Movement and Democratization in Andhra Pradesh

Author:
K.Y. Ratnam
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
This study argues that the democratic state in India is an historical product of very specific circumstances; as such the broader idea of democracy is not consistent with the specific Caste system. Therefore, there is serious juxtaposition between the institutional promise of democracy and the real practice of democracy in relation to the victims of the caste system, the Dalits. However, the caste based hierarchical relations of dominance and subordination have provided sufficient conditions for the rise of Dalit consciousness and these objective conditions have transformed into the sites of democratic struggles when the Dalits are affronted with the real operation of liberal democratic principles of, equality, freedom, fraternity, and social justice. Caste conflict, thus, lies at the structural dimensions of Indian society in the form of exclusion, discrimination, and economic inequality. Inequalities based on the caste divisions are intrinsically anti democratic, and the caste system as an oppressive ideological system represents the scheme of power, domination, privilege, and hierarchy. Its very foundation remains acentral obstacle in the path of democratic redistribution of power.
Topic:
Democratization, Development, and Political Economy
Political Geography:
South Asia and India

16. The State of the Pro-Democracy Movement in Authoritarian Burma

Author:
Kyaw Yin Hlaing
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
When Burma gained independence in 1948, its regime was a part of the phenomenon, which Samuel Huntington called the second wave of democracies. Although Burma's parliamentary democracy was by no means perfect, opposition parties were allowed to exist and elections were held regularly. The coup staged by the Revolutionary Council, which was led by the military on March 2, 1962, brought an end to this brief period of electoral democracy in Burma.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Development, and Politics
Political Geography:
Asia and Burma

17. "Failed State" and the War on Terror: Intervention in Solomon Islands

Author:
Tarcisius Tara Kabutaulaka
Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
A heightened sense of vulnerability to terror has touched every part of the world, including the Pacific Islands, and has linked small nations to large in new ways. Since the September 11 tragedy, concern has risen that so-called “failed states,” losing the struggle to maintain law and order at home, could become springboards for terrorism. Australia has shed its reluctance to intervene militarily in the Pacific trouble-sports—such as Solomon Islands, whose descent into chaos and violence was sparked in 1998 by civil unrest in Guadalcanal. With regional support, Australia led a mission in 2003 to restore law and order. A short-term success, the mission leaves questions about its long-term ability to achieve either well-being for Solomon Islands or security for the region. Its emphasis on shoring up a perennially weak central government, and its inattention to other pillars of Solomons society, threaten to undermine its success and create a crippling sense of dependency. For the mission to succeed, it must empower Solomon Islanders to take charge of their own destiny.
Topic:
Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, and Politics
Political Geography:
Australia/Pacific, Solomon Islands, and Southeast Asia

18. Political Parties and Political Engineering in the Asia Pacific Region

Author:
Benjamin Reilly
Publication Date:
12-2003
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
East-West Center
Abstract:
Democracies need both strength and flexibility—enough structure to transform a kaleidoscope of public opinion into coherent debate and effective policy, but enough openness to protect individual rights. Finding this balance is a particular challenge in ethnically diverse emerging democracies. Political parties usually serve a country best when they are limited in number, strong, and broad-based. Their evolution was once left mainly to chance; today, governments often seek to influence the process. Among those attempting reforms are Paupa New Guinea, home to hundreds of languages; Indonesia, with its separatist movements; the Philippines, experimenting with ways to balance party interests with other social concerns; and Thailand, whose once fragmented political scene seems headed toward domination by one party. Their strategies for encouraging stable party systems range from minimum-vote thresholds to efforts to stiffen internal party discipline. Much can be learned from these Asia Pacific efforts at political engineering—including the need for a cautious approach that minimizes unforeseen consequences and costs.
Topic:
Democratization, Ethnic Conflict, and Politics
Political Geography:
Asia and Southeast Asia