ABSTRACT
It has been more than three decades since democratization became a global keyword. From the point of view of their paths to democracy, the countries of East Asia appear to present us with a puzzle: this area has both vibrant democracies and intransigent authoritarian states, a situation that distinguishes it from other parts of the world. In particular, how do we account for the rise of democratic institutions out of the ashes of authoritarian rule in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (hereafter, ‘the three East Asian regimes’)? The answer to this question may shed some light on the general conditions conducive to the birth and growth of democracy.
