Beyond electoral democracy : promoting good governance in East Asia

The establishment of a mere electoral democracy cannot ensure effective governance and robust political legitimacy. The claim that a government based on elections will guarantee political stability and economic prosperity has proven to be overly optimistic, the 'third wave' of democratization that swept across the world in the last two decades has dramatically increased the number of countries that can be officially classified as democracies. However, not many of them can boast effective governance, political stability and economic progress. Instead, many newly established democracies in Africa, Asia and Latin America are troubled by governance crises.