Abstract
Why have references to democracy become standard in the rhetoric of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? This chapter explores the development of references to democracy in ASEAN, and the positions of member states in the context of their domestic political circumstances. It argues that ASEAN statements on democracy are not underpinned by a uniform approach to, or understanding of, democracy. Rather, there are many diverse views. Some member state representatives want to see a regional role for ASEAN in regard to democracy, while others are concerned about the potential challenges to sovereignty and non-interference norms. However, even non-democratic regimes recognise the legitimacy conferred by the term ‘democracy’ as a rhetorical tool.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Note that Timor-Leste is not (yet) a member of ASEAN. While Timor-Leste’s democratic institutions are still young and developing, it scored the highest of the Southeast Asian states in The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index in 2017, and was the only Southeast Asian state to be categorised as ‘Free’ by Freedom House’s Freedom in the World report (The Economist Intelligence Unit 2017; Freedom House 2017).
- 2.
Of course, authoritarian states are themselves often qualified. Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore have been referred to as electoral authoritarian (e.g. Croissant and Haynes 2014, 777), and alternatively as competitive authoritarian (e.g. Morgenbesser 2016; Ortmann 2011). Morgenbesser (2016) describes Vietnam and Laos as hegemonic authoritarian and Thailand and Brunei as closed authoritarian. For the purposes of this book, the focus is on democracy and its adoption in ASEAN rhetoric.
- 3.
This followed an attempt to impeach Duterte on the grounds that he has incited more than 8000 extrajudicial killings of suspected drug users and dealers, as well as bystanders. The impeachment complaint was unsurprisingly defeated in the House of Representatives.
- 4.
Taking a hard line on crime is not, of course, particular to the Philippines. Several governments in ASEAN states emphasise law and order as being in the interests of a stable democratic society. For example, Indonesia’s Attorney General, Muhammad Prasetyo, argued in July 2016 that implementing the death penalty for narcotics crimes is necessary to ‘save the nation from the danger of drugs’ (quoted in Hutt 2016).
- 5.
The role of chair rotates among ASEAN states in alphabetical order, and the chair has a considerable influence over the agenda in that particular year.
- 6.
As discussed in Chapter 1, the ASEAN Minus X principle allows for some flexibility to in the norm of consensus decision-making. If a member state does not agree with a particular decision, but is not affected by it, the member state should refrain from voting against it, and should instead abstain from voting (Capie and Evans 2007, 132).
References
Abramowitz, Michael J. 2018. “Democracy in Crisis.” In Freedom in the World 2018. Washington, DC: Freedom House.
Al Jazeera. 2016. “Thailand Referendum: New Constitution Wins Approval.” August 7, 2016. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/thailand-referendum-vote-favor-constitution-160807120506423.html.
Antara. 2016. “Bali Democracy Forum Calls for Synergy of Religions and Tolerance.” December 11, 2016. https://bali.antaranews.com/berita/99669/bali-democracy-forum-calls-for-synergy-of-religions-tolerance-and-democracy.
Arifianto, Alexander R. 2017. “Indonesia Ban on Civil Society Bodies: Spot on or Overreach?” RSIS Commentary. S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, No. 136/2017. July 18, 2017. https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/rsis/co17136-indonesia-ban-on-civil-society-bodies-spot-on-or-overreach/#.WYFTR0bwkhs.
ASEAN. 2004. Vientiane Action Programme 2004–2010. https://www.asean.org/uploads/archive/VAP-10th%20ASEAN%20Summit.pdf.
ASEAN. 2005. Kuala Lumpur Declaration on the Establishment of the ASEAN Charter. Kuala Lumpur, December 12, 2005. https://asean.org/asean/asean-charter/kuala-lumpur-declaration/.
ASEAN. 2006. Report of the Eminent Persons Group on the ASEAN Charter. https://www.asean.org/wp-content/uploads/images/archive/19427.pdf.
ASEAN. 2007. Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Singapore, November 20, 2007. http://www.aseansec.org/21069.pdf.
ASEAN. 2009. ASEAN Political-Security Community Blueprint. Jakarta: ASEAN Secretariat. http://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/archive/5187-18.pdf.
ASEAN. 2014. ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the Developments in Thailand. May 14, 2014. http://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/24th-Statement-on-Thailand.pdf.
ASEAN. 2015. ASEAN Community Vision 2025. https://www.asean.org/storage/images/2015/November/aecpage/ASEAN-Community-Vision-2025.pdf.
Asian Correspondent. 2018. “Thai Pro-democracy Protesters Arrested as Anti-junta Sentiment Grows.” May 23, 2018. https://asiancorrespondent.com/2018/05/thai-pro-democracy-protesters-arrested-as-fatigue-on-junta-rule-grows/.
Associated Press. 2016. “Thai Ex-premier Says Ruling Junta Seeks ‘Backward Democracy’.” March 10, 2016. http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-thai-ex-premier-says-ruling-junta-seeks-backward-democracy-2016-3/?r=AU&IR=T.
Capie, David, and Paul Evans. 2007. The Asia-Pacific Security Lexicon. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Cayetano, Alan Peter S. 2017. “We Continue to Value Sanctity of Freedom.” Borneo Bulletin, June 21, 2017. http://borneobulletin.com.bn/continue-value-sanctity-freedom/.
Cerojano, Teresa. 2017. “‘This Is a Democracy’: Int’l Court May Be Next for Duterte.” Associated Press, May 16, 2017. https://www.dailycommercial.com/news/20170516/this-is-democracy-intl-court-may-be-next-for-duterte.
Cigaral, Ian Nicolas P. 2016. “Government to Relax Foreign Ownership Limit, Protect BPOs.” Business World Online, December 14, 2016. http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=government-to-relax-foreign-ownership-limit-protect-bpos&id=137754.
Collier, David, and Steven Levitsky. 1997. “Democracy with Adjectives.” World Politics 49, no. 3 (April): 430–451.
Cooley, Alexander. 2015. “Countering Democratic Norms.” Journal of Democracy 26, no. 3 (July): 49–63.
Croissant, Aurel, and Jeffrey Haynes. 2014. “Thematic Section: ‘Inequalities and Democracy in Southeast Asia’.” Democratization 21, no. 5: 775–779.
Dahl, Robert A. 1971. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Diamond, Larry J. 1999. Developing Democracy: Towards Consolidation. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Diamond, Larry J. 2015a. “Facing Up to the Democratic Recession.” In Democracy in Decline?, edited by Larry Diamond and Mark F. Plattner, 98–118. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press.
Diamond, Larry J. 2015b. “Facing Up to the Democratic Recession.” Journal of Democracy 26, no. 1 (January): 141–155.
Emmerson, Donald K. 2005. “Security, Community, and Democracy in Southeast Asia: Analyzing ASEAN.” Japanese Journal of Political Science 6, no. 2 (August): 165–185.
Emmerson, Donald K. 2008. “Critical Terms: Security, Democracy and Regionalism in Southeast Asia.” In Hard Choices: Security, Democracy and Regionalism in Southeast Asia, edited by Donald K. Emmerson, 3–58. Stanford, CA: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
Emmerson, Donald K. 2012. “Is Indonesia Rising? It Depends”. In Indonesia Rising: The Repositioning of Asia’s Third Giant, edited by Anthony Reid, 49–76. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Erviani, Ni Komang. 2015. “Jusuf Kalla Blames Democracy for Growing Terrorist Threats.” The Jakarta Post, December 11, 2015.
Finnemore, Martha, and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. “International Norm Dynamics and Political Change.” International Organization 52, no. 4 (Autumn): 887–917.
Fitri, Nurul Fitri, and Haeril Halim. 2017. “Democracy ‘Gone Too Far’: Jokowi.” The Jakarta Post, February 23, 2017. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/02/23/democracy-gone-too-far-jokowi.html.
Freedom House. 2017. Freedom in the World 2017. Washington, DC: Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2017.
Gomez, James, and Robin Ramcharan. 2014. “Introduction: Democracy and Human Rights in Southeast Asia.” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 33, no. 3: 3–17.
Halim, Haeril. 2017. “Jokowi Seeks Security Over Democracy.” The Jakarta Post, June 7, 2017. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2017/06/07/jokowi-seeks-security-over-democracy.html.
Hamid, Shadi. 2018. “What Democracies Can Learn from Malaysia.” The Atlantic, May 16, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/malaysia-democracy-najib/560534/.
Huntington, Samuel P. 1991. The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Hutt, David. 2016. “The Cogs of Indonesia’s Death Machine.” The Diplomat, June 8, 2016. http://thediplomat.com/2016/06/the-cogs-of-indonesias-death-machine/.
Khalik, Abdul. 2007. “Indonesia Holds Ground on ASEAN Charter.” The Jakarta Post, June 15, 2007.
Kurlantzick, Joshua. 2014. “Southeast Asia’s Regression from Democracy and Its Implications.” Working Paper, May 2014. New York: Council of Foreign Relations. http://i.cfr.org/content/publications/attachments/Democratic_Regression_Paper.pdf.
Levitsky, Steven, and Lucan A. Way. 2010. Competitive Authoritarianism: Hybrid Regimes After the Cold War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Massola, James. 2018. “‘Democracy Is Dead in Cambodia’: Deputy Opposition Leader Speaks Out.” Sydney Morning Herald, March 21, 2018. https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/democracy-is-dead-in-cambodia-deputy-opposition-leader-speaks-out-20180321-p4z5g7.html.
Massola, James, and Nara Lon. 2018. “Cambodia Election ‘the End of the Road for Democracy’.” Sydney Morning Herald, July 30, 2018. https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/cambodia-election-the-end-of-the-road-for-democracy-20180729-p4zubq.html.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore. 2007. “Statement by ASEAN Chair, Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo in New York.” September 27, 2007”. https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseasmission/washington/newsroom/press_statements/2007/200709/press_200709_03.html.
Morgenbesser, Lee. 2016. Behind the Façade: Elections Under Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Morgenbesser, Lee, and Thomas B. Pepinsky. 2018. “Elections as Causes of Democratization: Southeast Asia in Comparative Perspective.” Comparative Political Studies (Online Version, February).
Murdoch, Lindsay. 2016. “Military’s Iron Grip Tightens with ‘Thai-Style Democracy’.” Sydney Morning Herald, April 8, 2016. https://www.smh.com.au/world/militarys-iron-grip-on-thaistyle-democracy-20160406-gnzher.html.
Natalegawa, Marty M. 2010. “Statement by H.E. Dr. R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia.” United Nations General Assembly, 65th Session, New York. September 28, 2010. https://gadebate.un.org/sites/default/files/gastatements/65/65_ID_en.pdf.
Ortmann, Stephen. 2011. “Singapore: Authoritarian but Newly Competitive.” Journal of Democracy 22, no. 4 (October): 153–164.
Peou, Sorpong. 2014. “The Limits and Potential of Liberal Democratisation in Southeast Asia.” Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 33, no. 3: 19–47.
Pepinsky, Thomas. 2017. “Southeast Asia: Voting Against Disorder.” Journal of Democracy 28, no. 2 (April): 120–131.
Pevehouse, Jon C. 2005. Democracy from Above: Regional Organizations and Democratization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Phillips, Kimberley. 2017. “‘Fake News’, Populism Flagged as Threats to Democracy at ASEAN Forum.” Democratic Voice of Burma, September 5, 2017. http://www.dvb.no/news/fake-news-populism-flagged-threats-democracy-asean-forum/77243.
Poole, Avery D. H. 2015a. “The Foreign Policy Nexus: National Interests, Political Values and Identity.” In Indonesia’s Ascent: Power, Leadership, and the Regional Order, edited by Christopher Roberts, Ahmad Habir, and Leonard Sebastian, 155–176. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Poole, Avery D. H. 2015b. “‘The World Is Outraged’: Legitimacy in the Making of the ASEAN Human Rights Body.” Contemporary Southeast Asia 37, no. 3 (December): 355–380.
Prime Minister’s Office Singapore. 2015. “Transcript of Dialogue with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the SG50+ Conference on 2 July 2015.” July 2, 2015. http://www.pmo.gov.sg/mediacentre/transcript-dialogue-prime-minister-lee-hsien-loong-sg50-conference-2-july-2015.
Przeworski, Adam. 1999. “Minimalist Conception of Democracy: A Defence.” In Democracy’s Value, edited by Ian Shapiro and Casiano Hacker-Cordón, 23–55. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Reuters. 2018. “UK, France Should Press Thai PM on Rights, to End Military Rule: Group.” June 18, 2018. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-politics/uk-france-should-press-thai-pm-on-rights-to-end-military-rule-group-idUSKBN1JE0NI.
Robison, Richard, and Vedi R. Hadiz. 2017. “Indonesia: A Tale of Misplaced Expectations.” Pacific Review 30, no. 6: 895–909.
Rueschemeyer, Dietrich. 2004. “Addressing Inequality.” Journal of Democracy 15, no. 4 (October): 76–90.
Schedler, Andreas. 2015. “Electoral Authoritarianism.” Emerging Trends in the Social and Behavioral Sciences (May): 1–16.
Schumpeter, Joseph A. 1943. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. London: Unwin University Books.
Sony, Ouch. 2018. “Cambodia Does Not Need International Recognition for Upcoming Elections: PM.” Channel News Asia, January 19, 2018. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/cambodia-does-not-need-international-recognition-for-upcoming-9874358.
Sukma, Rizal. 2008. “Political Development: A Democracy Agenda for ASEAN?” In Hard Choices: Security, Democracy and Regionalism in Southeast Asia, edited by Donald K. Emmerson, 135–150. Stanford, CA: Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center.
Sukma, Rizal. 2011. “Indonesia Finds a New Voice.” Journal of Democracy 22, no. 4 (October): 110–123.
The Economist Intelligence Unit. 2017. Democracy Index 2017. https://www.eiu.com/topic/democracy-index.
The Sun Daily. 2017. “Call for More Resilient Democracy in ASEAN Region.” September 14, 2017. http://www.thesundaily.my/news/2017/09/03/call-more-resilient-democracy-asean-region.
Viray, Patricia Lourdes. 2017. “ASEAN Warned: Adhere to Democracy but Choose Leaders Well.” Philippines Star, October 13, 2017. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/10/13/1748408/asean-warned-adhere-democracy-choose-leaders-well.
Wai, Albert. 2016. “Thai PM Wants New ‘Strategic Equilibrium’ Amid Security Threats.” Today Online, June 4, 2016. https://www.todayonline.com/world/asia/asia-needs-new-strategic-equilibrium-tackle-security-challenges-thai-pm.
Wirajuda, Hassan. 2009. “Statement by H.E. Dr. N. Hassan Wirajuda, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Republic of Indonesia.” United Nations General Assembly, 64th Session, New York. September 29, 2009. http://www.un.org/en/ga/64/generaldebate/pdf/ID_en.pdf.
World Bank. 2018. “Data: Indonesia.” http://data.worldbank.org/country/indonesia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Poole, A. (2019). Democracy in Rhetoric and Reality. In: Democracy, Rights and Rhetoric in Southeast Asia. The Theories, Concepts and Practices of Democracy. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15522-3_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15522-3_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15521-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15522-3
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)