This book employs a policy-based approach to examine the emerging governance structure in Taiwan, one of several countries in East Asia where democratic consolidation is firmly established. Each chapter provides a detailed investigation of reforms that have helped to strengthen Taiwan's democracy in such areas as elections, civil service recruitment, economic policy, social policy, environmental protection, civil rights, response to the COVID-19 pandemic, civil-military relations, and foreign and mainland China policy. As a study of Taiwan's democratic governance, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian politics, comparative politics, democracy, and Taiwan.

The debate over the compatibility of Confucian culture with democracy is an ongoing one. Yet, few books in the existing literature have dealt specifically with the relationship between Confucian culture (as opposed to Confucianism or general cultural factors) and democracy. Prior to the end of the Second World War, no Confucian society was democratic, so the debate could only be done in an abstract sense. Only after the war did Japan emerge as a democratic country, and it is not a perfect case of the Confucian culture - for one, its Confucian legacy is diluted; moreover, its postwar transition to democracy was, to a large extent, externally imposed rather than internally generated. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, South Korea and Taiwan joined what Samuel P Huntington termed the "third wave of democratization". Finally, at least two societies with strong Confucian heritage turned democratic, and unlike Japan, their democratic transition resulted mainly from internal political dynamics.Confucian Culture and Democracy 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. Japan - as a country influenced by Confucianism, is also analyzed, together with China - whether China joins the family of democratic states is undoubtedly an important concern for many in the region and beyond.

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 following New Labour Triumphs: Britain at the Polls, How Russia Votes, and How France Votes.