Asian Politics & Policy最新文献

Many documented cases of policy transfer in Asia involve small and medium enterprises as well as public enterprises but little is known about how and why these local private actors participate in transnational policy transfer networks. We propose a relational view of policy transfer to examine how agency is exercised in these kinds of transfer networks. We develop a typology of the engagement of these private actors—solutionist and entrepreneur—based on their relational position in the policy transfer process and illustrate its usefulness using two cases of policy transfer between: (1) Yokohama (Japan) and Cebu (Philippines) and (2) Singapore and New Clark City (Philippines). A common theme in these networks is the diffused nature of agency where local private actors are pulled in to provide epistemic resources.

This article analyses the impacts of an international cooperation project in the field of “eco-city” development in China, using a policy transfer perspective. It explores the relationship between policy transfers and paradigm shifts and discussing the thesis of a “Chinese art” of policy transfers, according to which Chinese policymakers operate a form of cherry-picking that prefers technical recommendations over policy or procedural recommendations and is dictated by “national self-interest.” Based on a longitudinal study of the transfer of a renewal paradigm to a Chinese city, Yangzhou, the study shows that the transfer resulted in significant policy change, going beyond technical aspects. Therefore, the thesis of “Chinese art” is not confirmed. However, a full-fledged paradigm shift was not observable as elements of the old paradigm are still present. Policy transfers can thus result in paradigm shifts, but their institutionalization is likely to be slow and gradual.

The literature of electoral reform explains politicians' preferences and social forces such as working-class power or expansions of the suffrage are the major factors that bring about a change in electoral rules. However, we argue that generational replacement and electoral issue effects lead politicians to introduce a new electoral system for their electoral survival in future. By examining Japan's surveys for pre- and postreform elections, we show that the entrance of new generation and salient issue concerns dissolve electoral bases of political parties and finally give rise to a change in the rules of the game for the greater electoral stability that political elites desire.

For centuries, Java-based rulers employed economic, political, and military measures to control the myriad islands lying in the eastern reaches of the Indonesian archipelago. Following Indonesia's transformation into a presidential democracy, the country's leaders modified this strategy and sought to maintain regional control by implementing economic and political decentralization measures on a massive scale. These measures also gave the eastern populations an appreciable influence on presidential elections. However, population projections and recent election data indicate that inhabitants of eastern Indonesia may become electorally marginalized because the region's population growth is being far outpaced by that of Java and Sumatra. Such marginalization could lead to social unrest, separatist movements, and other malevolent behaviors that threaten the country's democracy. To address this scenario, this article suggests that implementing a presidential voting framework based on the US Electoral College could strengthen Indonesia's democracy by significantly empowering voters in the country's eastern provinces.

Studies on religious discrimination have focused on the nature, causes, and dynamics of repression, asserting that perceived threats and cross-cutting influences of religious ideology and rational calculation are predictors for governmental discrimination against religious minorities. Yet, research on how the dynamic interplay of repression and pushback shapes the contestation between governments and minorities is lacking. This article explores this issue with a case study of a small indigenous religion group in culturally heterogenous Indonesia. Building on civic space theory, this article argues for the importance of coping strategies in resisting state-led discrimination and asserting civic space. This article carefully examined complex micro dynamics while also offering new insights to better understand the interplay between repression and pushback in the context of religious freedom.

Election-related violence (ERV) is a recurring concern in the Philippines—considered to be one of the most violent countries in Asia. National and midterm elections which happen every 3 years are the most violent. As such, a thorough analysis on the nature of ERVs in the country is necessary to address the causes facilitating electoral violence. While there have been several ERV studies in the Philippines after the post-1986 democratization period, this article is the first that looks at electoral violence data at both the individual and aggregate levels. This study examines incidences of ERV in the Philippines from 2013 to 2019 by creating a novel incident-level data set, the Philippine Electoral Violence data set, constructed from online media reports. A total of 394 incidents were found over the three election periods covered in the data set, which includes at least one incident in 65 out of the 81 provinces in the country.