South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization

Like in many other states worldwide, democracy is in trouble in South Korea, entering a state of regression in the past decade, barely thirty years after its emergence in 1987. The society that had ordinary citizens leading "candlelight protests" demanding the impeachment of Park Geun-Hye in 2016-17 has become polarized amid an upsurge of populism, driven by persistent structural inequalities, globalization, and the rise of the information society.The symptoms of democratic decline have been increasingly hard to miss: the demonization of political opponents, erosion of democratic norms, and the whittling away of the courts' independence. Perhaps most disturbing is that this all took place under a government dominated by former pro-democracy activists. Will the election victory of opposition leader Yoon Suk-Yeol end this democratic erosion, or will the rift between South Korea's progressives and conservatives only deepen with the next administration?The contributors to this volume trace the sources of illiberalism in today's Korea; examine how political polarization is plaguing its party system; discuss how civil society and the courts have become politicized; look at the roles of inequality, education, and social media in the country's democratic decline; and consider how illiberalism has affected Korea's foreign policy.&nbsp;

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

Like in many other states worldwide, democracy is in trouble in South Korea, entering a state of regressionin the past decade, barely thirty years after its emergence in 1987. The society that had ordinary citizensleading “candlelight protests” demanding the impeachment of Park Geun-Hye in 2016–17 has becomepolarized amid an upsurge of populism, driven by persistent structural inequalities, globalization, and therise of the information society.\nThe symptoms of democratic decline have been increasingly hard to miss: the demonization of politicalopponents, erosion of democratic norms, and the whittling away of the courts’ independence. Perhapsmost disturbing is that this all took place under a government dominated by former pro-democracyactivists. Will the election victory of opposition leader Yoon Suk-Yeol end this democratic erosion, or willthe rift between South Korea’s progressives and conservatives only deepen with the next administration?\nThe contributors to this volume trace the sources of illiberalism in today’s Korea; examine how politicalpolarization is plaguing its party system; discuss how civil society and the courts have become politicized;look at the roles of inequality, education, and social media in the country’s democratic decline; andconsider how illiberalism has affected Korea’s foreign policy.

Imperfect Partners: The United States and Southeast Asia

Imperfect Partners is a unique hybrid - part memoir, part foreign policy study of U.S. relations with Southeast Asia, a critically important region that has become the central arena in the global U.S.-China competition. From the People Power revolt in the Philippines to the opening of diplomatic relations with Vietnam, from building a partnership with newly democratic Indonesia to responding to genocide in Myanmar and coups in Thailand, Scot Marciel was present and involved. His direct involvement and deep knowledge of the region, along with his extensive policymaking work in Washington, allows him to bring to life the complexities and realities of key events and U.S. responses, along with rare insights into U.S. foreign policy decisionmaking and the work of American diplomats in the field.

Biographies & Memoirs

Marciel, Scot

Historical

Governments in Greater China (Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore) are striving to create higher valueadded— and homegrown—products, services, and technologies. No longer satisfied with China's role as the "world's factory," the Chinese government calls its effort "Independent Innovation." Likewise, Taiwanese firms are endeavoring to become global architects of many products, and Hong Kong and Singapore are rising to similar challenges. This book addresses topics at the heart of these efforts: • What specific actions are Greater China's governments taking to advance their respective competencies? • How do foreign firms bring technologies to them? • How adequate are the pools of talent and how are they changing? • What do patent and publication data tell us about trends in science and technology? • Why are China's research institutes being reorganized? • What has made a small set of hightech regions so productive? The authors, leading scholars and business people from Greater China, the United States, and Europe, offer valuable insights into the region's transition from workshop of the world to wellspring of innovation.

Greater China's Quest for Innovation

Business & Money

Economics

Security has long trumped democracy as a priority for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). But the brutal dictatorship in Burma/Myanmar, political pluralism in Indonesia, and the global growth of democratic norms have led some Southeast Asians to question ASEAN's habit of turning a blind eye to domestic abuses by member states. The concept of regional security, meanwhile, is being reoriented from military threats toward new dangers to health and the environment and from state security toward human security. Will promoting democracy cause local autocrats to hunker down and split ASEAN into hostile camps? Will ignoring demands for democracy allow domestic pressures to rise to dangerous levels? Should Burma/Myanmar be expelled or engaged? How should ASEAN respond to nontraditional threats to security in which member states are themselves implicated? In Hard Choices, experts grapple with these and other key and controversial questions for Southeast Asia today and tomorrow.

Hard Choices: Security, Democracy, and Regionalism in Southeast Asia

Pharmaceutical policies are interlinked globally, yet deeply rooted in local culture. Prescribing Cultures examines how pharmaceuticals and their regulation play an important and often contentious role in the health systems of the Asia-Pacific.
 The first section of this timely book—which includes a foreword by Michael Reich of Harvard University—addresses pharmaceutical policy in China, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Australia, and India. The second section focuses on two crosscutting themes: differences in "prescribing cultures," especially among physicians, who are the primary dispensers of medicine in Asia, and the challenge of balancing access to drugs with incentives for innovation.
 The book's contributors discuss important issues for U.S. policy, notably drug imports from Asia, regulation of global supply chains to assure drug safety and quality, and new legislation to encourage development of drugs for neglected diseases. In Prescribing Cultures, pharmaceutical policy serves as a window into the economic trade-offs, political compromises, and cultural legacies that shape regional and global health systems.

Prescribing Cultures and Pharmaceutical Policy in the Asia-Pacific

Eggleston, Karen

Sociology

Does South Asia exist? Globally, regional integration and prominent regional institution—such as the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—have been on the rise. In South Asia, by contrast, such progress has been slow, despite the recent dynamic growth of India's economy.This broad-based volume examines the prospects for regionalism in South Asia, assessing issues that drive greater regional integration and obstacles that prevent it. How does South Asia's experience of regionalism compare with other parts of the world? What different perspectives do South Asia's sometimes contentious neighbors bring to the regional process? How do those attitudes help or hinder solutions to peculiarly South Asian challenges? The book devotes particular attention to India, the largest power in the region, and analyzes the extent to which it drives or blocks greater regionalism. As the book's distinguished contributors reveal, the provocative question at the heart of this timely book defies easy answers.Copublished with the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

Does South Asia Exist?: Prospects for Regional Integration

Reference

South Korea remains a puzzle for political economists. The country has experienced phenomenal economic growth since the 1960s, but its upward trajectory has been repeatedly diverted by serious systemic crises, followed by spectacular recoveries. The recoveries are often the result of vigorous structural reforms that nonetheless retain many of South Korea's traditional economic institutions. How, then, can South Korea suffer from persistent systemic instability and yet prove so resilient? What remains the same and what changes?
 The contributors to this volume consider the South Korean economy in its larger political context. Moving beyond the easy dichotomies—equilibrium vs. disequilibrium and stability vs. instability—they describe a complex and surprisingly robust economic and political system. Further, they argue that neither systemic challenges nor political pressures alone determine South Korea's stability and capacity for change. Instead, it is distinct patterns of interaction that shape this system's characteristics, development, and evolution.

Adapt, Fragment, Transform: Corporate Restructuring and System Reform in South Korea

Japan's first decade of the twenty-first century was both disappointing and bewildering, producing wildly contrasting evaluations. Many have come to call this period the "second lost decade," characterized by policy paralysis and overall lackluster economic growth. For those studying Japan more closely, however, the same decades reveal nothing short of a broad transformation numerous core tenets of Japan's postwar political economy. How can we best capture this transformation?   Each chapter in this volume examines a different aspect of Japan's political economy within a longer historical trajectory, from multiple angles, to depict a flexible but resilient system.   We characterize Japan's process of change as syncretism--practices foreign, domestic, old and new were selectively adopted, mixed and matched, along the way creating a new and unique hybrid system.

Syncretism: The Politics of Economic Restructuring and System Reform in Japan

Kushida, Kenji E.

Biography & History

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center

See the best price to sell, buy or rent books by the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center publisher. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization

South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization

Imperfect Partners: The United States and Southeast Asia

Imperfect Partners: The United States and Southeast Asia

Greater China's Quest for Innovation

Hard Choices: Security, Democracy, and Regionalism in Southeast Asia

Prescribing Cultures and Pharmaceutical Policy in the Asia-Pacific

Does South Asia Exist?: Prospects for Regional Integration

Adapt, Fragment, Transform: Corporate Restructuring and System Reform in South Korea

Syncretism: The Politics of Economic Restructuring and System Reform in Japan