Political Impact of the Asian Economic Crisis: Comparing Political Instability

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Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Korea were the most serious victims of the 1997 Asian economic crisis. Political regime in Indonesia was seriously devastated just after the crisis. However, in the next few years, Indonesia came to boast democracy and stability while politics in four other countries has become unstable or less democratic. We have tried to search for the reason for this sharp contrast. We found that advancement of neoliberalism was a major reason for the economic crisis and political instability. Neo-liberal policies have deepened social problem of growing inequality that is already becoming politically salient. Widening disparity between the poor mass and the relatively rich middle class has make it increasingly difficult for both to accept the same rule of political game. The poor puts emphasis on numerical legitimacy and the rich on moral superiority. It makes electoral democracy less stable.