The 1990s can be characterized as the decade when the Asia-Pacific Rim Nations embraced elections. How Asia Votes focuses on twelve countries and examines how their elections have been conducted, the domestic implications, and how the elections have differed from one another and from elections in the West. While elections had previously been used to justify and legitimate the selection of rulers in several Asia-Pacific countries, the broad acceptance and use of elections to select rulers is a relatively new phenomenon. The fourth in a heralded series of books on comparative elections...

This title represents a comprehensive effort to examine the linkages between Confucian culture and democracy. Building on the empirical evidence from South Korea and Taiwan, and examining semi-democratic societies with extensive experiences in electoral politics like Singapore and Hong Kong, this book provides readers with an empirical and detailed coverage of democratization and democratic governance in various Confucian societies.