ABSTRACT
This chapter looks into the development of political parties in the region and their role in the democratic development of Asia. It describes some special features of the emerging party systems related to the political competition and the development of the legal rules and conditions under which the political activities take place. Throughout the ongoing democratization process in the region, the attention of political observers and the media has mainly been directed to the existing parliamentary institutions and procedures. Many new parties in Thailand were started by defecting Democratic Party (DP) politicians. The party has a strong regional support in the south of the country and is the only party in the country with a nationwide organizational structure. The international networks of party ‘families’, namely, International Democratic Union (IDU), Liberal International (LI) and the Socialist International (SI), have been facing problems in linking up or recruiting member parties in Asia.
