Revisiting the Democratic Transition in South Korea and Taiwan

Abstract

This paper explores the transition to democracy in Taiwan and South Korea, as two East-Asian countries which have moved successfully away from authoritarian rule. These two East-Asian states are particularly noteworthy to students of democratic transition because of nature of their previous authoritarian regimes as well as their Confucian cultural values were not compatible with democratic value. Despite this, the democratic transition in both countries was reached with peaceful transition. Entering the third decade after the democratic transition, their democracy is not, however, fully consolidated and both countries are facing political turbulences; nevertheless, the people in both countries seem determined to move forward democratically. Therefore, their experience is useful for countries elsewhere which are experiencing the transition from authoritarianism; specifically, South Korea and Taiwan provide a model for how other countries might move to democracy.