ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the geopolitical landscape in East Asia is a product of great power competition and changes in hegemonic systems. It reviews existing literature of democratization and present why they are insufficient to help one to understand political changes in East Asian. The middle class who seeks to protect its wealth, property, and economic freedoms from arbitrary state action is a primary driver of democratization. Indeed, outside the schools focusing on domestic conditions such as economic development, and culture, there is an existing literature addressing political development or democratic change in terms of international factors. British colonists introduced their common law, parliamentary system, and civil servant system into colonies, which later became crucial foundations for a democracy. Democracy started to take its root in East Asia during the Cold War. The rise of Communist Parties and guerrillas in Southeast Asia made the US encourage or tacitly approve those governments to suppress Communist insurgencies with nondemocratic, sometimes very violent, ways.
