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William Case is Professor of Comparative Politics at the City University of Hong Kong. He has published extensively on democratic change and authoritarian durability in Southeast Asia. He has held teaching or visiting research positions at the University of Malaya, the National University of Malaysia, and the University (Institute) MARA in Shah Alam. In the summer of 2013, he was Visiting Professor at the University of Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (UMcedel).
Civil Society in Southeast Asia: Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be
In Southeast Asia, civil society arrived early and has mostly remained buoyant. But the region is complex, diverse, and highly dynamic, ensuring that civil society’s motivations and trajectories have been too. Despite the many democratic transitions in Southeast Asia, civil society’s performance has since been inconsistent. Some civil society organizations and social movements, then, have behaved in ways that have prevented new democracies from gaining in quality—or have even contributed to authoritarian reversals.
