Conclusion

This book began with two basic propositions: first, democracies in Eastern Asia, as elsewhere, are under stress facing an array of issues and challenges, and second, democratization is a continuing process without a definite end. There is no single political theory that can fully explain the continuing wave of democratization in the Eastern Asia region, let alone all of its rips and eddies. The general aim of this book, through an examination of the major issues and challenges facing the governments of the region, is to show how complex the actual experience of Eastern Asian democracy and the politics surrounding it has been and no doubt will continue to be.