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Political systems of most East Asian economies during the
sustained high growth years was aptly described by Professor Ohno as
“authoritarian developmentalism”, or an authoritarian state with economic
capabilities. Political legitimacy was derived from successful economic
growth and development. 9

The argument for the strong state, or developmental authoritarianism
in East Asia, may be briefly summarized as deriving from its ability to
engage in long-term policy planning, establish development priorities, and
coordinate implementation among various public and private stake-
holders. For countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, in contrast to
China and Vietnam, strong authoritarian developmentalism was a
transition stage, lasting two to three decades, as an instrument for
achieving growth and structural transformation.

Unlike a well-functioning liberal democracy, a critical shortcoming
of authoritarian developmentalism in whatever form, is that it has no
built-in mechanism for smooth power transition. The ruling party or
regime tends to generate a web of beneficiaries and supporters, what
the economist Albert Hirschman called vested interests, who more often
than not, resist reforms. They become a significant constraint on future
10
change needed as an economy and society evolve.

China is increasingly held up as an alternative model to liberal
democracy, able to plan long-term, and achieve impressive sustained
growth through “state capitalism”, and “authoritarian meritocracy”. 11
China’s economic success to date has followed the East Asian

9 K. Ohno, 2013. “The East Asian Growth Regime and Political Development”,
Chapter 2, in K. Ohno and I. Ohno (eds.), Diversity and Complementarity in
Development Aid: East Asian Lessons for African Growth. Tokyo: GRIPS Development
Forum/National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo.
10 Albert O. Hirschman, 1969. National Power and the Structure of International
Trade. University of California Press, Berkeley.
11 See for example Daniel A. Bell, 2015. The China Model: Political Meritocracy
and the Limits of Democracy. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

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