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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]

Political scientists have not clearly articulated the links between democratization and political protest. Many studies have focused on whether or not social movements in a transitional period eventually attain their stated goals. Unlike the expectation that the more a political structure accommodates participation, the less people protest, protests have persisted in South Korea even after the country passed several tests of successful democratization. By defining outcomes only in terms of policy reforms congruent with demands, other outcomes are overlooked that point to structural transformations and changes in the capacity of social movements to remain key political actors after initial policy gains are achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

Using cases of movement episodes from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea, I present a tentative framework for understanding the role of anti-base movements in overseas base policy decisions. More specifically, I examine the political consequences of anti-base movements against overseas U.S. military bases, exploring how anti-base movements and U.S.-host state security relations interact to influence basing policy outcomes. My central claim is that the degree of security dependence between the U.S. and host state provides an important opportunity structure enabling movements to employ different mechanisms, which in turn, determines the relative success (or failure) of a given movement. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]