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This paper explains why democratization destabilizes some asymmetric alliances more than others. I argue that democratization has the potential to destabilize asymmetric alliances because it unleashes a powerful force of nationalism in the political arena. Nationalist elites who come to power in democratizing states view military dependence and resultant foreign influence as a humiliating encroachment of sovereignty. Therefore, they demand an autonomous, equal partnership often in disregard of power disparity within the alliance. The major ally in turn resents their seemingly ungrateful demands and unreasonable policies, and therefore shows a decreased interest in the alliance. As a result of these frictions, the alliance becomes less stable. Democratization, however, does not evenly affect asymmetric alliances because it occurs in different threat environments and takes divergent paths. These factors mitigate or amplify the destructive potential of nationalist sentiments that democratization unleashes. This paper tests these arguments by analyzing three asymmetric alliances in which a weaker member democratized since the late 1980s: U.S. alignments with South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How is government spending used strategically in the emergent Asian democracies of South Korea and Taiwan? As nations generally considered to have weathered democratization, a study of government spending in South Korea and Taiwan is instructive on how allocations may be used strategically without undermining democratization process. This paper evaluates government spending for South Korea and Taiwan and compares pre- and post-democratization patterns. Three interesting results point to the value of longitudinal analyses of individual nations to frame expectations on spending and underpin robust findings: First, defense spending increases in election years in both nations, but not social welfare spending. Second, democratization does not exert an effect independent of elections and legislative fragmentation. Third, government spending is a viable resource for party building; however, this spending has to be targeted at building the nation's or party's strengths rather than aimed at divisive politics. While some of the results appear contrary to the literature, they are consistent with the governing party's efforts to broaden electoral support in emergent democracies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the effects of science and technology policies upon information transfers. Such transfers are indicators of greater social returns, particularly when they flow between public and private research entities. The model presented here tests for whether government research and development (R&D) subsidization increases information flows in Korea and Taiwan. Using the unique KORTAI R&D dataset at a number of different specifications, it is shown that, at a general level, transfers are positively affected by the public funding programs in both countries. There are a number of differences between Korea and Taiwan, however, and future analysis on the East Asian developmental state must include institutions related to these funding programs. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Taiwanese and South Korean samples of the 2000-2004 Asian Barometer dataset, this paper confirms the Christian democracy hypothesis that Christianity (including Catholicism) contributes to democratization by indoctrinating democratic values and behaviors to their believers. However, the statistical analyses also support the religious market hypothesis that the logic of competition in pluralistic religious markets compels various religions to converge on dominant democratic values and behaviors within each country, although different religions and different countries continue to vary in the degrees and aspects of democratic commitment. These findings offer a more optimistic view for the prospect of non-Christian "religious democracies" than what the current scholarship proposes. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although in the long term, democratization is expected to exert pacifying effects on international relations, scholars have argued that conflict is more likely during democratic transitions. They argue that politicians in democratizing states are more likely to make jingoistic appeals, and coalitions of political, business, and/or military leaders are likely to form and to ?logroll? for military buildups and other destabilizing policies. This proposition has great significance for East Asia, which faces two potential political transitions: the democratization of China, and Korean unification. This paper tests a theory of democratization and conflict in the cases of three previous East Asian political transitions: Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. I test not only for the occurrence of conflict, but also for the presence of the predicted mechanisms through which conflict occurs (nationalistic appeals and logrolling). I find that although there is some evidence of nationalistic posturing that is consistent with the theory?s predictions, for the most part, evidence from these cases does not support the theory. Leaders did not make jingoistic appeals; they were more likely to preach stability. Furthermore, I find that the public, the military, and the business community do have substantial influence over policy makers, but do not find that these groups advocated military buildups or offensive military strategies. This study casts doubt on the relevance of the ?democratization and war? thesis for future East Asian political transitions; it finds support for theories in the liberal school of international relations, including the beneficial effects of democratization, policies of engagement, and economic integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the new left in Taiwan and South Korea and the renewed left in Brazil and Chile. I contend that the left can no longer best understood in terms of antiquated sociological or economic categories. The new left in East Asia and Latin America is a political project and its politics are embedded in the processes of democratic transition. My argument is simple: (i) Democratization, a variable process of change, leads to different patterns of new left organization. (ii) Meanwhile, the introduction of democracy, a form of governance with universally shared features (irrespective of how the transition to democracy took place), promotes the moderation of the new left across all four cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, changing national identities have transformed the China-Taiwan and Korean conflicts. Democratization in Taiwan and South Korea, and liberalization in China, have forced leaders to compete for popular legitimacy by appealing to national identities. Along with the collapse of the Soviet Union, these contested national identities have been the main factors driving change in the conflicts—pushing China and Taiwan inexorably apart and toward a showdown, while helping to sustain what appeared to be a mortally wounded North Korea. This explains why one U.S. ally, Taiwan, has become more hawkish, while the other, South Korea, has turned more dovish. These foreign policy changes, in turn, have reinforced changes in underlying national identities. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the success of Singapore's authoritarian rule and state transformation. The capacity of the country's People's Action Party (PAP) to continually reproduce an authoritarian regime stands in sharp contrast with the situation in Taiwan and South Korea. Yet there is nothing exceptional to this case because the country's political institutions, as elsewhere, are the product of dynamic social and political interests, conflicts and coalitions.

The article presents a comparative study of the popular mobilization and democratic transitions in South Korea and Taiwan in the 1980s. It presents a review of literature concerning the influence of labor mobilization on democratic transitions. It argues that the constructive role of social movements in democratic transition may have enduring effects on democratic reforms. It also explores the role of popular mobilization in democratization.

According to a survey of 178 states' internet accessibility by the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union (ITU), South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan ranked in the top ten, but China, the Philippines, and Indonesia placed outside the top fifty. Despite efforts to reduce this chasm by governments and international organizations, the digital gap between those who have and those don't have continues to widen particularly in Asia. In an attempt to smooth out differentials of the Digital Access Index among Asian nations, the ITU and other international organizations encouraged government-sponsored initiatives to broaden accessibility. Thus the South Korean government, NGOs, and major electronics companies such as Samsung and LG have been supporting the digital have-nots within the region to construct basic IT infrastructures. Two questions arise: why are South Korea's grants centralized around Asia, and do the efforts focus on hardware? A hypothesis to the first question is that the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 made the general public in South Korea realize that Asian countries are closely related in their history, geography, culture, politics, and economy. Moreover, policy makers comprehended that narrowing the digital divide is essential for the sustainable development of South Korea. Secondly, there are two aspects of the contributions of South Korea's Official Development Assistance (ODA.) The material aspect is supporting of infrastructures to increase access for rural or remote areas and human resources development. The South Korean government and companies are helping to build a digital network; NGOs and volunteer ICT experts educate government officers in underdeveloped countries using software, and develop localized content. Many of them share the basic assumption that their efforts will bring to Korea political and economic advantages someday. For example, the ICT Hub that links regional key players and major institutions can be regional influence. The ethical aspect comes from the special experience of the Korean economy. As late as the early 1960s, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world; South Korea was an ODA recipient until 1991. However, in 2005, South Korea became the 11th biggest contributor due to rapid economic development, especially in the information technology field. South Korea's experience, therefore, can be a good lesson for today's developing Asian nations. This argument is supported by documentation from the 1990's, governmental websites, newspapers/periodicals, and journals from Asian communities, and should be compared with prior works including Hans-Dieter Evers (2005) and Robert Hunter Wade (2002). South Korean annual assistance would be analyzed by regional and sectoral priorities before and after 1997. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]