Democratic governments around the world are in decline as we are witnessing authoritarian regimes expanding their reigns, especially in Asian politics. This has been due to the democratic process, which has been influenced by different factors of historical, political and socio-economic as manifested in South and Southeast Asia, which led to the dominance of a military rule or an authoritarian regime with cultures of repressive political liberties of citizens as witnessed in the military regime of Myanmar, political instability in Thailand, authoritarian practices in the Philippines and Cambodia, or one-party control in Vietnam and Laos in Southeast Asia; political instability caused by military rule and rampant corruption in Pakistan; political violence and authoritarian tendencies in Bangladesh; and ethnopolitical tension, which leads to weak governance in Sri Lanka. All these have led to a weakening of the democratic fabric particularly in the region of Asia.
The manifestation of the crisis of democracy is seen in the erosion of democratic institutions, suppression of political oppositions, authoritarian and autocratic rule, compromised electoral integrity, restrictions of press freedom, violation of civil rights and liberties, and distrust of the masses. All these issues are common in the countries of the regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia, with one or two traits being more dominant than the others.
This panel welcomes any proposal which seeks to critically analyze any or one of the different layers of complexities of how the two regions, as part of the broader Asian continent, have distinct historical, cultural, and political contexts but share commonalities like colonial legacy, multi-cultural and multi-religious, political instability, the influence of ethnic nationalism, military regimes and coup through any of the theoretical lenses, concepts or paradigms such as New world order, Security studies, Nationalism, Gender studies etc.