ABSTRACT
Despite the longstanding suggestion of an “Asia Exception”, recent evidence suggests that there is a path to democratic development in the region (Diamond 2008, Chapter 10). In fact, respondents to the Asian Barometer Surveys (ABS) offer a great deal of support for democratic values, though this varies both within and between countries (Chu et al. 2008; Shin 2015). Taiwan and South Korea, for this reason, are ripe for study; each regime has enacted reforms to promote the expansion of liberal values throughout society and hold governments accountable. With the alternation in power of two sets of parties over the course of the last two decades, they have, per Huntington’s “two-turnover” rule, made great progress in their transitions to democracy (Huntington 1991, 266-267; Diamond 2008, 213; Chu and Im 2013). Yet, evidence from surveys conducted by the ABS demonstrates that there are
limits to the support of democracy in these systems. Park and Chu (2014) detail
the challenges to the development of the norms, values, and institutions of democracy as a function of poor government performance and deleterious economic conditions. Both Taiwan and South Korea have suffered through economic downturns and face the looming influence of China in the region. In addition, previous research from the ABS demonstrates that leaders of Asian systems face some of the most stinging criticisms of job performance. Respondents often note how they consistently lack trust in political actors and institutions, especially in more democratic systems. At the same time, these respondents do not accept authoritarianism as a meaningful alternative (Shin 2015; Pietsch 2015). There is limited desire for regime change, but continuing support for democratic principles, despite the general animosity toward the government (Chang and Chu 2003). How can we observe the development of democracy amidst the competing trend of
government suspicion? I use the literature on conventional participation, followed by an analysis of ABS data, to demonstrate that the motivations for political action are becoming similar to those of citizens in other democracies. To reconcile the adherence to liberal values with frustration regarding democracy-in-practice, I observe that, while the citizens of Taiwan and South Korea remain frustrated with their leaders, they still promote liberal values and are gradually developing support, in general, for their democratic regimes.
