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2 - State-Building and Democratization

The Sequencing Debate and Evidence from East Asia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2020

By
Tuong Vu
Edited by
Aurel Croissant  and
Olli Hellmann
Aurel Croissant
Affiliation:
Universität Heidelberg
Olli Hellmann
Affiliation:
University of Waikato, New Zealand
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Summary

Should a well-functioning state be a precondition for democratization? Can democratization nevertheless contribute to state-building? What does the evidence from East Asia say about the so-called “sequencing debate”? This chapter first reviews the debate on the relationship between state-building and democratization, then examines the historical relationship between state-building and democratization in East Asia. The main findings are as follows. First, privileging state-building has both good and bad consequences and does not preclude the possibility of democratization. Second, democratization confers international legitimacy on isolated states and is beneficial as a conflict-solving mechanism, yet often requires costly external intervention and is not guaranteed success. Finally, the historical experience of East Asia up to the present suggests that today’s regimes cannot freely choose between state-building and democratization

Keywords

State-buildingdemocratizationEast AsiaSoutheast Asiasequencing debatehistorical experience
Type
Chapter
Information
Stateness and Democracy in East Asia , pp. 25 - 46
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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