Conflict and Political Participation in Southeast Asia

Garry Rodan will discuss his new book: Participation without Democracy

In Southeast Asia, as conflicts have emerged, there has been a proliferation of new forms of political participation. This includes public policy feedback mechanisms, participatory budgeting, and nominated members of parliament. Paradoxically, expanded political representation—in both its democratic and non-democratic forms—has served more to constrain political competition than to enhance it. Drawing from his new book—Participation without Democracy (Cornell University Press, 2018)—Garry compares Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia to illustrate this argument and explain the differing trajectories of these political regimes.

About the speaker

Garry Rodan is Professor of Politics & International Studies and Director of the Asia Research Centre at Murdoch University, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. He is the author of Participation without Democracy: Containing Conflicts in Southeast Asia (Cornell University Press, 2018), Transparency and Authoritarian Rule in Southeast Asia (Routledge, 2004), The Political Economy of Singapore’s Industrialization (Macmillan 1989), and co-author (with Caroline Hughes) of The Politics of Accountability in Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2014).