| Description: |
In contrast to the new democracies of Europe and Latin America, little is known about how the mass publics in East Asia value and evaluate democracy. This study begins to fill this void by analyzing recent public opinion survey data from Korea and Taiwan, the two most prominent and influential third-wave democracies in Asia. Attitudes toward democracy and assessments of the democratic system are compared across the two countries, and with data from other regions. In terms of the depth of democratic support, Korea and Taiwan have made significant progress, but they trail many other emerging and established democracies. The two "Asian Tiger" democracies, however, resemble their peers elsewhere in that the performance of political institutions (for example, in controlling corruption and abuse of power) is vital to the growth of democratic commitment, and may even be more important than economic performance. The real world of politics thus provides a rich field for the study of democratic consolidation.
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