The State of Democracy

Abstract

Is democracy really in crisis? This book attempts to evaluate the state of democracy in Asian countries from multiple perspectives. Citizens of countries that have experienced the transition to democracy are attracted to liberal democracy not only because of the norms and values of liberal democracy, but also because of the high level of economic development and geopolitical success shown by existing liberal democracies. Democracy is losing its momentum worldwide. In the past decade or so, there has been a marked trend in many new democratic countries gradually transitioning to non-democratic or authoritarian regimes. At the same time, even in some advanced democracies, authoritarian and xenophobic populist movements are becoming powerful enough to threaten stable democratic systems. The Freedom House Index shows that the level of democracy in the Asian continent has improved somewhat over the past 15 years. In 2020, the number of Free countries in the region was 17 and the number of Not Free countries was 12. Since the beginning of a 15-year period of global democratic decline, those numbers have not significantly changed in Asia. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Kuyoun Chung and Wonbin Cho; individual chapters, the contributors.