DEMOCRACY AND AUTHORITARIANISM IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA

Abstract

Southeast Asia is one of the regions of the world that is saddled with the rigorous effects of colonial rule. The end of the Second World War in 1945 heralded the adoption of different political and economic systems by Southeast Asian countries. Some of the most popular systems adopted namely, democracy and authoritarianism, are viewed in opposing perspectives as regards to the factors (colonial and non-colonial) that informed the adoption of the systems, and how the countries in Southeast Asia have fared so far in their various systems of choice. Using qualitative method of research which entails analysis and description, this paper through the use of secondary data in the form of books; and tertiary data in the form of online documents, identifies that the structures and dynamics of the present Southeast Asian region is rigorously influenced by the political systems adopted by the countries in Southeast Asia after their independence, which is influenced by both colonial factors and non-colonial factors, and have notably shaped the level of economic development in the region.