Asian Democ at the Crossroads

Catalog description

This course will examine and discuss the political dynamics and policy behaviors of three successful democracies in Northeast Asia: Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. While all three countries are successful democracies with economic power, each country also faces a series of critical challenges in their politics, economy, and society. The global implications of their struggles are never trivial and the examination of three countries will provide us with the better grasp of contemporary global issues. The thematic focus of the course lies in the comparative analysis of each country in terms of political system, political economy, state-society relations, and foreign relations. To this end, the course will also explore the intricacies of the cultural, historical, and psychological contexts in which behavioral and policy motivations may be explained.