ABSTRACT
This chapter estimates the virtuous cycle assumed by the modernization model to exist among market liberalization, industrialization, social change, democratization and US policy with evidence that recent development in Asia may be creating pressures for 'unraveling some strands' in what have been judged to be extremely successful political economies over the last decade or more. It considers whether modernization explains Asian democracy. The chapter examines the relationships among democracy, developmental states and economic performance in Asia. The economic success of the East Asian capitalist states is often explained by the 'developmental state' model. This school of development studies argues that a strong developmental state or 'bureaucratic authoritarian industrializing regime' (BAIR) in Cumings's less favorable terminology could promote successful industrialization projects. For example, modernization might erode the cultural values that undergirded 'Confucian capitalism'; or democratization might impair the strength and autonomy of Asian developmental states. Such potential conflicts among the various strands of Asia's virtuous cycle should not be particularly surprising.
