From Development to Democracy: The Transformation of Modern Asia.

• Author: Hirsch, Michael L.

Slater, Dan and Joseph Wong From Development to Democracy: The Transformation of Modern Asia. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2022. 348. Hardcover, $35.00.

In the mid-1980s, I was fortunate to study historical-comparative methods with Gideon Sjoberg at the University of Texas. The class explored the then contemporary works of Skocpol (1979), Starr (1982) and Tilley (1984) and more classical works including those of Polanyi (1944), Bloch (1953) and Sjoberg (1960). I have long appreciated well-executed comparativehistorical studies and the insights they provide (e.g., Madrid and Wayland, 2019). Because of this, I was very excited about reviewing this work by Slater and Wong.

In From Development to Democracy: The Transformation of Modern Asia Slater and Wong do an extensive analysis of twelve countries in "developmental Asia" which has transformed "One of the world's poorest regions (into)... one of its richest" (p. 1). While some countries in "development Asia" have democratized as they developed per the thesis of Modernization Theory, others have not. Slater and Wong turn to historical-comparative analysis to discern why.

Slater and Wong group their cases into four developmental clusters: Statist (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea), Militarist (Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia), Britannia (Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong) and Socialist (China, Vietnam, Cambodia). Comparisons are made of the developmental/political trajectories within each cluster as well as between clusters. It is through very detailed analyses that Slater and Wong develop the thesis that democratization within "development Asia" is a process that unfolds during times of strength.

Countries in the statist cluster have fully embraced democracy. Here existing conservative elites conceded democracy when they possessed both stability confidence (belief that democracy would maintain or improve social stability) and victory confidence (belief their power would continue through the democratic transition). Statist elites were past their apex of power but could still leverage their "usable past" (p.76) to assure continuance in the near term while conceding a transition to democracy.

Countries in the militarist cluster experimented with democracy but two (Thailand and Myanmar) have reversed to authoritarian rule. Unlike statist countries, these countries transitioned to democracy without first having achieved significant developmental achievements or having created of a highly...