Coalition Politics and Democratic Consolidation in Asia

Description

Theorizing on democratization and the sustainability of democracies has been carried out for Asian countries. However, the relationship between coalition politics and the consolidation of democracy, particularly in the context of developing and multi-ethnic Asian countries characterized by evolving parties and alliances, has not been explored much.   The key question posed in this pioneering volume is whether and how coalition politics conduces to the consolidation of, and improvement in the quality of, democracy. Leading scholars from four Asian countries— India, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Japan— examine this issue by undertaking a study of the nature of parties, party systems, coalition politics, and democracy or democratization in their countries. They suggest that coalition politics conduces to power-sharing and hence to the consolidation of democracy, under certain conditions, depending on whether inclusive parties and coalitions get institutionalized and whether coalitions are formed within or across ethnic and other cleavages.