「亞洲式民主」與政治危機－－印尼個案研究，1997－1998

Asian Democracy and Political Crises: The Case of Indonesia, 1997~1998

「亞洲式民主」為許多政治學者及大部分的亞洲領袖所推崇。他們相信，因為「亞洲式民主」標榜許多與群體價值優先相關的價值，使得一些亞洲國家免於面對西方所面臨的諸多困境。他們同時堅信，人民內心深處渴望的是經濟生活面的滿足，民主與否則非重要問題。然而本研究的基本論點認為，「亞洲式民主」事實上不民主，也因為它不民主，所以它即具有不穩定的本質。當支持「亞洲式民主」政體合法性的經濟發展消失時，尤其又必須面對政治領導繼承問題時，以上所稱的不穩定的本質往往就會轉變為政治危機。本研究即以透過對印尼一九九八年政權轉移的觀察，來檢視「亞洲式民主」的不穩定本質與政治危機間的關係。

'Asian Democracy'- which stresses conformity and communal loyalties over pluralism and individualism - has been upheld by most of the leaders of Asian countries. They argued that 'Asian Democracy' is a foundation of a strong-and-stable state and that a strong-and-stable state is a prerequisite for rapid economic development (which is highly desired by people in developing countries). This paper, however, argues that 'Asian Democracy' is inherently unstable due to its 'non-democratic' traits (e.g., personal rule, electoralism, etc.). Asian democratic systems, therefore, largely depend on economic performance legitimacy. In such a system, once economic performance stalls, a legitimacy crisis follows. This paper examines the dynamics between the spirit of 'Asian Democracy' and the fall of Suharto to exemplify the inherent instability of the 'Asian democracy' theory.