ABSTRACT
One explanation for East Asia’s rapid growth is the distinctive nature of the region’s politics (Johnson, 1982, 1987; Chu, 1989; Cheng, 1990; Haggard, 1988, 1990; Wade, 1990 chs. 7 and 8; Chang, 1994; Campos and Root, 1996).2 One version of this approach is that the East Asian newlyindustrializing countries (NICs) enjoyed the advantages of competent, meritocratic bureaucracies (see for example World Bank, 1993:174-81; but also Evans, 1992, 1995). A second line of analysis focuses on the broader institutional milieu, and particularly the “strength” of the state.
