Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book suggests that East Asia's rich experience with democratization, both successes and failures, can help clarify the politics of democratization as a global phenomenon. It considers the first systematic, comparative, and theoretical exploration of democratization in East Asia, the world's most dynamic economic region in the second half of the twentieth century. The book also suggests general rules and policy prescriptions derived from probing the vicissitudes of democratic efforts in order to permit a fuller and more realistic, theoretical and practical, understanding of the prospects for democratization both in East Asia and universally. It provides a discussion on Masanori Nakamura's analysis of Japan's democratization which highlights the contribution of the US occupation of Japan. The book explains the role of international politics in furthering or obstructing the consolidation of democracies all over Asia.