Election Campaigning in East and Southeast Asia
Edited by Christian Schafferer
Publisher: Ashgate, Aldershot
Publication Date: 2005

At the end of the last century, political marketing appeared to have become a global phenomenon with more and more electoral campaigns resembling those of the United States. Comparative research has shown the existence of a so-called ‘Americanization’ of election campaign practices. This globalization of campaigning that can be best described as media and money driven has not only affected traditional democracies but also democracies of the Third Wave.

This book—the first of its kind—examines the nature of electoral campaigns in East and Southeast Asia. Based on the analyses of developments in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the Philippines, it aims to answer the following broad question: Is there an Asian style of election campaigning?

Door-to-door canvassing, distributing leaflets, mobilizing local factions are some of the various traditional campaign tools used in Asian elections. Liberalization and democratization, however, intensified political competition and changed the way election campaigns are conducted. Traditional forms of campaigning have either been replaced or now have to share the overall campaign strategy with modern campaign techniques, such as the utilization of mass media and mass communication. This book aims to give a clear picture of these manifold changes and how they differ from observations made in other democracies.

Contributing to the fields of media studies and comparative politics, this book includes several outstanding features:

-         provides a detailed analysis of the campaign environment in East and Southeast Asia.

-         gives an insight into the various changes in election campaigning that occurred in the region during the process of democratization and modernization.  

-         sheds new light on the causes and consequences of the worldwide proliferation of US election campaigning.   

-         provides the academic world with previously unpublished material on electoral strategies of Asian political parties.

Specialist in media studies and political science, graduate students in the fields of Asian politics, comparative politics, and Asian studies as well as researchers, business people, and journalists will find this book useful.