Culture, Development and Freedom of Expression

Democracy has long been among the most contested concepts in political science and political philosophy. Yet, since the 1990s, there has been widespread tendency to think as if a universally acceptable definition is already in hand. The catalysts for this change appear to be the worldwide wave of democratisation and revived attention to the study of democracies. The underlying assumption is that we have a shared ambition of democracy. This would imply that countries that are undergoing a process of democratisation will eventually reach a stage that conforms to such a definition. In extending its geographical scope across the world, has the concept of democracy lost some of the sharp contentious characteristics of the past? Or, on the contrary, will these profound divisions continue to prevail? Would it be possible for Asian and European political scientists to study and evaluate their countries’ democracies from a shared definition and common theory of democracy? Some of the most prominent academics from Asia and Europe come together to examine these issues that have pertinent applications for democracy in practice in Asia and Europe. Analysis on regional variations follows general and theoretical issues related with the conceptions of democracy in the two continents.