Democracy in Asian Countries

Democracy in Asia

Democracy has had a relationship with Southeast Asia that is lasting but troubled. There were prolonged stretches of argument and estrangement following a romantic courtship at the end of the colonial era. And, beginning some twenty years ago, a reunion and some healing took place. However, old enmities have resurfaced over the past few years and democracy is now undeniably under threat in the country. In Central Asia, democracy was never alive and well. When the glow of freedom in many corners of the globe dimmed in 2020, the light was never really plugged in in Central Asia. Democracy in Central Asia is as it once was, with a pandemic and subsequent economic upheaval, in the middle of a tumultuous 2020: mainly a masquerade.

V Dem Report from 1986–2018

A modern approach to conceptualizing and evaluating democracy is the Variations of Democracy (V-Dem). I chose the countries China, Philippines and Singapore as variables for comparison. As seen on the graph below, China has never been a democratic country which is why it does not show up on the graph. Meanwhile both Singapore and The Philippines have shown stability in democracy.

The 5 indices of using the V Dem Data

As seen from the five different graphs above, between the three countries, the Philippines has the most unstable state compared to China and Singapore. This goes to show that the Philippines has faced more trouble and problems when it comes to balancing and adjusting since 1986 to 2018. But in conclusion, the data should be used as a means to motivate and ignite change for all asian countries.

Sources:

Chu, Y. (2020, October 30). The State of Democracy in Asia. Retrieved December 15, 2020, from https://thediplomat.com/2020/10/the-state-of-democracy-in-asia/