Broadly speaking, both democracy and open, representative elections have had a relatively short history in the Asia and Pacific region. The actual implementation and interpretation of the concepts of good democracy and fair elections differ according to the historic, societal and political culture and conventions in each country in the region. In some Asian countries, political patronage and community-based political loyalties continue to play an influential role, while other countries are making a concerted effort to embrace more modern, democratic forms of governance. Some argue that, in South East and East Asia in particular, societal conventions of making decisions at community level, such as in village group or business organizations or political parties, are deeply rooted in cultural traditions.
In countries such as Australia, on the other hand, democracy is firmly established and well understood. There, suffrage is universal and compulsory for those over the age of 18 years. India, too, boasts a proud parliamentary tradition.
Yet other countries have forms of governance that diverge from democratic principles. For example, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) are authoritarian states. So is China, although it has established universal suffrage in elections for the legislative arm of its government. South Korea operates a system combining party-list proportional representation with single-member districts. After more than thirty years of military rule, South Koreans-since 1987-have begun to enjoy fully democratic political processes.
Liberalization of the military regime in Taiwan began in the 1980s and ended in 1987 when emergency decrees in place since 1948 were removed. Taiwan is now a multi-party democratic regime headed by a popularly elected President. It has a complex electoral system that includes a majority of seats elected by direct popular vote, a smaller number of seats allocated to political parties on the basis of nationwide vote totals, and the remainder elected by overseas Chinese and the aboriginal population.
Other Asian governments run the gamut of openness and democracy. In Indonesia, approximately 8% of the legislative branch is appointed by the military. The legislative branch of the Philippines government is a bicameral Senate and House of Representatives that is directly elected except for approximately one fifth of the lower house which may be appointed by the president. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral Senate and House of Representatives. Until the 2000 elections, the King appointed all representatives to the Senate.
In Japan, democratic principles have become well rooted in the country's political representation and decision-making traditions. Universal suffrage was first introduced in Japan in 1925, but the transition to full representative democracy was marked by the adoption of a new constitution after World War II. The Japanese government operates through a combination of proportional representation and direct election.
Until very recently, in Japan it was both common and reasonably well accepted that companies and trade unions would be heavily involved at all levels of the electoral process. Until recently employers and trade unions regularly instructed their employees and members on how to vote. Such behavior was not regarded as unfair, nor as any form of electoral "capture" unless some violation of specific rules or laws has occurred.
These examples of various representative systems and different ideas about representation and democracy lead to an important conclusion: any region-wide election in the Asia/Australia/Pacific region must have explicit and common rules for how the election is to be conducted.
| 2.2.2.1.1 Internet use | 2.2.2.2.1 The Pre-Election Phase |
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