Security, Development and Human Rights in East Asia

This book is divided into three sections comprised of pairs of chapters. First, a section examining how Confucianism interacts with democratic resilience in South Korea, compared with the societal role and challenge of Islam in Indonesian democracy. The second section will conduct brief historical surveys of the role of civil society role in Korean and Indonesian democratization, and debates about the appropriate role for civil society after democratization. In particular, the various roles of civil society non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and popular movements will be highlighted in both countries. The final section looks at socio-economic conditions and distributive justice in relation to democracy in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Indonesia.

This book assesses democratic resilience and challenges in (relatively) newly emerging democracies in the Asia-Pacific, which are simultaneously important case studies as newly emerging middle powers. Across all dimensions and measurements, South Korea and Indonesia are consistently the most salient case studies to consider. The two case studies are compared across three sections. First, the relationship between economic development and democratic resilience in Indonesia and South Korea. Second, nature of political culture and societal constructs in the two case studies. The final section looks at the potential peculiarities of the two case studies, which are seen as uniquely challenged: Indonesia by religious persecution and South Korea by political populism. Certainly, democratization is a long and difficult process. This book provides insight into how the two countries have embarked on similar democratization projects. It also delineates the successes and failures from which valuable lessons on democratization can be drawn.