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การประชุมวิชาการ
สถาบันพระปกเกล้า ครั้งที่ 21
ลดช่องว่างความเหลื่อมล้ำ สร้างคุณภาพประชาธิปไตย

first lifting martial law in 1987 and finally holding its first presidential election in
1996. Mongolia made a rapid transition to democracy in 1990 by abolishing

one-party Communist rule and holding the first multiparty parliamentary elections.
Indonesia’s democratic transition began in 1998 by forcing its long-term

autocrat to resign and holding open multiparty parliamentary elections in 1999.
Since the democratic transition, all these four countries have remained electoral
democracies without breakdown or reversion (Freedom House, various years).

A notable case is Thailand, which transitioned to democracy in 1992, but its
democratic consolidation was interrupted by a 2006 military coup. Since then

Thailand has remained a non-democracy with a brief democratic interlude in the
early 2010s (Freedom House, various years). Unlike their neighbors, in contrast,
Singapore and Malaysia have been immune from the third-wave democratization

and remained non-democracies with a façade of multiparty elections.

Along with political liberalization and democratization, much of East Asia

has also suffered rising income inequality after a long period of equitable
economic growth under authoritarian rule. In a report on inequality in Asia, Jain-

Chandra and her colleagues (2016, 8) note that “From 1990-[20]15, the region
grew around 6 percent per annum, notwithstanding the sharp slowdowns during
the Asian Financial Crisis and the Global Financial Crisis.” However, they show

that “this impressive economic performance has been accompanied by rising
inequality in a number of Asian economies.” They point out that “Rising

inequality in Asia is in contrast to its own remarkable past record of equitable
growth. Pre-1990, Asian economies grew fast but were also able to reduce
inequality, leading to growth that was inclusive” (9). After achieving substantial
เอกสารประกอบการอภิปรายร่วมระหว่างผู้แทนจากต่างประเทศ
redistribution with shared-growth model, much of East Asia has experienced
rising income and/or wealth inequality. 2

2 The film Crazy Rich Asians draws attention to the region’s growing wealth inequality.