Democratization, Institutional Reform and Ethnic Politics in the Asia-Pacific

This proposal examines whether 'political engineering' - the conscious design of political institutions - can promote stable democracy in ethnically-diverse societies, by examining the impact of recent political reforms in the Asia-Pacific states of East Timor, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Thailand. These ambitious experiments in constitutional, electoral, political party and other domains will be assessed for their impact on the management of ethnic conflict and the consolidation of democracy. By examining the relationship between social structure and institutional design, the project will also advance the ongoing scholarly and policy debates on optimum institutional models for new or transitional democracies.