Democratization and human rights in Southeast Asia

The collapse of socialism within the Soviet bloc and the end of the Cold War led Howard J. Wiarda to raise the question of whether comparative politics was dead (Wiarda 1998, 1999). Evidently, however, this field of study is still alive and well today, especially when we study political dynamics in Southeast Asia where political development presents a theoretical and empirical challenge to the study of regime change and human rights. The 11 states of this region have developed various types of political regime, and all of them, including democratic regimes, have proved unable to effectively protect and promote human rights.