In 2014:
Taiwan Journal of Democracy, Volume 10, No. 1: 123-145
Democratization and the Discourse on Stability in Hong Kong and Singapore
Stephan Ortmann
Abstract
Democrats in both Hong Kong and Singapore face a discourse on stability that is hostile to liberal democracy, but only activists in Hong Kong have successfully reframed this discourse to motivate potential supporters to actively push for democratization. The difference between the situations in Hong Kong and Singapore can be explained by the concept of collective action frames, which demonstrates that it is not sufficient to associate stability with democracy, for supporters also need to establish a motive for activism. The study shows that the success of reframing rests with the saliency of the notion that authoritarianism is a problem for stability, in part influenced by the degree of access to the media.
Thompson, Mark R. "THE POLITICS PHILIPPINE PRESIDENTS MAKE: Presidential-style, Patronage-based, or Regime Relational?." Critical Asian Studies 46, no. 3 (2014): 433-460.
ABSTRACT
In political systems with a powerful chief executive, such as in the Philippines, an essential element in the analysis of politics is a clear understanding of the impact of presidential politics. Two analytical theories have tried to understand this phenomenon: (1) a voluntarist, actor-centered, presidential-style approach, and (2) a structuralist, patronage-based approach. This article shows that neither approach provides a satisfactory account of the country's presidency. A more useful approach, the author argues, is the relational one developed by U.S. political scientist Stephen Skowronek to analyze the presidency in the United States. Skowronek studies whether presidents attempt to govern in accordance with, or in opposition to, an existing presidential regime—a prevailing set of ideas, interests, and institutional arrangements. This approach allows for the assessment of the choices presidents make within structural constraints while differentiating the performance of presidents from their role as patron-in-chief. In order to apply this theory to the Philippine presidency, however, it must be modified to take into account campaign narratives, strategic groups, and institutional instability. Post- Marcos presidents, the author concludes, can best be evaluated based on how close their association was, or is, with the dominant reformist regime, which employs a narrative of good governance and democratization.
Ortmann, Stephan. "The Significance of By-elections for Political Change in Singapore’s Authoritarian Regime." Asian Survey 54, no. 4 (2014): 725-748.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/as.2014.54.4.725
ABSTRACT
By-elections in Singapore have played a different role depending on whether the country can be characterized as a hegemonic or competitive authoritarian regime. During the former, the ruling party was able to instrumentalize by-elections for leadership renewal and enhance its power. Conversely, they aided opposition parties as well, providing them a training ground.
Choi, Nankyung. "Local Political Elites in Indonesia:" Risers" and" Holdovers"." SOJOURN: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia 29, no. 2 (2014): 364-407.
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/sojourn_journal_of_social_issues_in_southeast_asia/v029/29.2.choi.html
ABSTRACT
Local political elites in post-Soeharto Indonesia have become increasingly diverse, challenging the dominant characterizations of them as leftovers of the old regime or political opportunists. Existing literature on Indonesia’s local politics tends to focus on top-tier elected officials, such as provincial governors, district regents and municipal mayors. Political elites and elite aspirants at intermediate and lower levels of governance have received less attention. Field-study data collected in Pontianak, the regional capital of West Kalimantan, serves as the basis for analysis of the changing profiles of local elites and elite aspirants and for scrutiny of their efforts and tactics to acquire and retain power. The analysis demonstrates that local political elites in Indonesia consist not only of “holdovers” from the New Order era, but also new and diverse “risers”. “Old” elites remain, as some survived the political transition and as young generations have inherited the resources and constituencies of their forbears. But at the same time “new” elites have entered the local political scene from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds by taking advantage of new opportunities, resources and strategies. This local political diversification does not, however, necessarily indicate the level of the country’s democratic maturity.
Ortmann, Stephan, and Mark R. Thompson. "China's obsession with Singapore: learning authoritarian modernity." The Pacific Review 27, no. 3 (2014): 433-455.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09512748.2014.909522
Abstract
Chinese government officials and academics have shown disproportionate interest in the small city-state of Singapore. The Southeast Asian country with a majority ethnic Chinese population has drawn their attention because it is the only country in the world that combines advanced industrial development with stable one-party rule. Singapore not only seemingly defies Western predictions that modernization will inevitably lead to democracy, but also appears to show that authoritarian regimes may be better suited to achieving societal stability in an Asian context. In particular, the ruling party of the city-state, the People's Action Party, has drawn the attention of conservative Chinese reformists who seek to fill the ideological void that emerged following the decline of Maoist ideology. Reformers in China also derive practical governance lessons from Singapore about fighting corruption, increasing professionalization, and improving responsiveness within the party-state. As such, political learning from the Singapore model must be seen as part of the ongoing process of transformation of the Chinese Communist Party. As a consequence of this learning process, Chinese reformers are using lessons from the Singaporean model as arguments in their efforts to bolster the ideological foundations and strengthen the governance capacity of one-party rule, thus reducing pressures for democratization.
Carroll, Toby. "''Access to Finance'' and the Death of Development in the Asia-Pacific." Journal of Contemporary Asia
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00472336.2014.907927
Abstract
This article details and dissects the promotion by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation of financial intermediaries – entities such as wholesale and retail micro-finance organisations and deposit-taking banks – as a key component within the push to establish and extend capitalist social relations in the underdeveloped world. It argues that the approach must be seen as emanating not out of some (re)discovery of key methods that foster the substantive and sustainable improvement of material conditions but rather the material and ideological interests attending late capitalism. Focusing on financial intermediary support in the Asia-Pacific, this article begins by outlining the new politics of development driving financial intermediary support and the broader agenda to which it belongs. The second section of the article details some "working examples" of the International Finance Corporation's support of financial intermediaries in the Asia-Pacific, fleshing out the precise form that financial intermediary support takes. The article concludes by highlighting how the approach is further consolidating the death of development as a modern nationalist/internationalist project and deepening the distribution of late capitalism's contradictions. In 2013:
Case, William. "Defending Borders: States and Nation-States in the ASEAN 5." TRaNS: Trans-Regional and-National Studies of Southeast Asia 1, no. 01 (2013): 45-62.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/trn.2012.3
Abstract
Discontent simmers within social science over states and nation-states as units of analysis. Disputes over what even constitutes a state, whether simply an organizational apparatus, albeit with unique legitimacy, or a broader complex of social relations, have never been resolved. But it is not just its murky delineation with which the state is afflicted. It has lately come under attack from above and below, with causality seen to be draining away to transnational and sub-national forces. This paper begins by rehearsing the economic and social vectors along which assaults on the state and the nation-state are conveyed. It then turns to Southeast Asia, a part of the developing world in which the state would seem especially vulnerable, its powers having been usurped by transnational firms and corroded internally by connected rent-seekers and provincial “men of prowess.” However, this paper tries also to show that in Southeast Asia, national states and territorial borders have remained quite intact. Neither globalized markets, regional formations, local identity construction, administrative decentralization or migration have shaken the standing of the state and the nation-state as appropriate units of analysis. This is especially the case when addressing major questions about regime types and change in the region.
London, Jonathan D. "The promises and perils of hospital autonomy: Reform by decree in Viet Nam." Social Science & Medicine 96 (2013): 232-240.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.07.009
Abstract
This article investigates impacts of hospital autonomization in Viet Nam employing a “decision-space” framework that examines how hospitals have used their increased discretion and to what effect. Analysis suggests autonomization is associated with increased revenue, increasing staff pay, and greater investment in infrastructure and equipment. But autonomization is also associated with more costly and intensive treatment methods of uncertain contribution to the Vietnamese government's stated goal of quality healthcare for all. Impacts of autonomization in district hospitals are less striking. Despite certain limitations, the analysis generates key insights into early stages of hospital autonomization in Viet Nam.
Keywords
Viet Nam; Health Sector; Hospitals; Decentralization; Governance; Health policy
Chan, Yuk Wah. "Hybrid diaspora and identity-laundering: a study of the return overseas Chinese Vietnamese in Vietnam 1." Asian Ethnicity no. 14 (4) (2013):525-541.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14631369.2013.803802
Abstract
Among the overseas Vietnamese around the world, many are Chinese Vietnamese. They fled from Vietnam for different political and economic reasons during the 1970s and the 1980s. Many of them have returned to Vietnam since the 1990s to work, invest or retire. What is interesting about these returned Chinese Vietnamese migrants is the fact that when they left Vietnam they were called by the Vietnamese the Hoa (, Chinese) or Hoa kiều (
, overseas Chinese) by the Vietnamese. This identity was actually one of the reasons for their escape. When they returned, they were lumped together with all other returnees into the category of Việt kiều (
, overseas Vietnamese) and enjoyed the special rights offered by the Việt kiều policy of the Vietnamese government, which was aimed at boosting the national economy. Although their ‘Chinese’ identity had once made them to risk their lives by sailing out on the roaring sea, their ‘Vietnamese’ identity brought them back to Vietnam at other turning points in their lives. The shifting identity of these Hoa kiều-turned-Việt kiều has produced an interesting migration story and an intriguing category of ‘hybrid diaspora.’
