The Conundrum of Authoritarian Resiliency Hybrid and Nondemocratic Regimes in East Asia

Zheng-Xu Wang ； Ern Ser Tan

《Taiwan Journal of Democracy》 9卷1期 (2013/07) Pp. 199-219

並列摘要

This essay examines the level of public support in four typical authoritarian regimes in East Asia-China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. We found that these regimes still enjoy a relatively high level of public support, with about 70-80 percent of the surveyed citizens supporting their respective political system. It appears that the continued existence of the values of traditional authority in these societies still provides a basis for regime support, with the relatively successful economic performance of these countries playing an additional important role. Economic modernization, however, is eroding the role of traditional political culture in legitimatizing the nondemocratic regimes, with citizens becoming more critical of political authority. This is even more evident when we examine the institutional features that citizens deem to be important to their continued support for their regime, as more and more citizens consider accountability and other democratic qualities of government to evaluate whether they should support their political system.

並列關鍵字

Political support ； regime legitimacy ； democratic legitimacy ； authoritarian regimes

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