Abstract
Is there an Asia-Pacific model of democracy? Over the past two decades, more than a dozen Asian and Pacific states have made the transition to democratic rule. But many of these states are also ethnically, linguistically, and regionally diverse, creating real challenges for effective government. This book explains how the Asia-Pacific's political reformers responded to the twin challenges of democracy and diversity through ambitious and often innovative political engineering. Far-reaching reforms to electoral, parliamentary, and party systems have seen the emergence of a distinctive regional model of democracy. Benjamin Reilly analyses this new approach to the design of political institutions, and its consequences for democratic governance in the Asia-Pacific and other world regions.