ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the origins of post-war Asian regimes, with special attention to the severity of external threats and the presence or absence of domestic resources to procure political support. It identifies distinct patterns of government-business relations and the impact of democratization on those patterns. The government sector remained large, while private domestic business lagged. Chong-Min Park and later military leaders relied on cooperation from the civilian bureaucracy and a small set of giant business conglomerates known as chaebol for both economic performance and political support. The high performance of all the party-based systems on social and economic indicators suggests that Rothstein is correct, and that the World Bank governance indicators can be misleading. Industry associations in East Asia show a mixed pattern once again favouring the strong-party countries. Patterns of government-business interaction established in East Asia after World War II remain largely intact even after democratization.
