Abstract: | Making sense of democracy and governance in the Asia-Pacific / Stephen McCarthy and Mark R. Thompson -- Democracy and governance : a conceptual analysis of a contested relation / Riccardo Pelizzo -- Singapore : challenges of 'good governance' without liberal democracy / Netina Tan -- The good versus the many : 'good governance' and democracy in Thailand and the Philippines / Mark R. Thompson -- Electoral governance : models of democracy in Asia and the Pacific / Benjamin Reilly -- Can Solomon Islands escape its clientelist trap? / Terrence Wood -- Governance, rule of law and judicial reform challenges in contemporary Cambodia / Lucy West -- Governance and the rule of law : reflections on tensions in Thailand / Bjoern Dressel -- Militarized civil society and governance in the Asia Pacific : Burma (Myanmar) and Fiji / Stephen McCarthy -- Think tanks and the governance of political transformation in China / Paul Howard and Doug Smith -- Governance and Christianity in the PRC / David SchakInde. "This book explores the theoretical and empirical relationship between democracy and governance in the Asia-Pacific region. Examining a variety of country cases and themes addressing the theoretical tension between governance and democracy, it illuminates how this impacts political and civil societies across the region. Analysing the character, structure, and current trajectories of polities in the Asia-Pacific, democratic or otherwise, this book demonstrates that the role of civil society, political society, and governance has significantly differed in practice from what has been commonly assumed within the international community. The book includes both theoretical investigations tracing the modern development of the concepts of governance, development and democratization as well as regional and country-specific observations of major issues, presenting comprehensive country-level studies of China, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Fiji and the Solomon Islands. Presenting fascinating insight into non-democratic governance, civil society and the rule of law in illiberal contexts, Governance and Democracy in the Asia-Pacific will prove to be of great use to students and scholars of Asian politics and society, as well as international and comparative politics"-- |
