Comparative Politics of Southeast Asia

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

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2. Government and Political Regimes in Southeast Asia: An Introduction

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 1-14

3. Brunei Darussalam: Malay Islamic Monarchy and Rentier State

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 15-33

4. Cambodia: From UN-Led Peace-Building to Post-Genocidal Authoritarianism

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 35-69

5. Indonesia: Challenges of Conflict and Consensus in the Era of Reformasi

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 71-111

6. Laos: The Transformation of Periphery Socialism

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 113-139

7. Malaysia: Competitive Authoritarianism in a Plural Society

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 141-176

8. Myanmar: The Challenging Transition from Military to Democratic Government

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 177-211

9. Philippines: People Power and Defective Elite Democracy

   • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

   Pages 213-254

10. Singapore: Contradicting Conventional Wisdoms About Authoritarianism, State, and Development

    • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

    Pages 255-289

11. Thailand: The Vicious Cycle of Civilian Government and Military Rule

    • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

    Pages 291-330

12. Timor-Leste: Challenges of Creating a Democratic and Effective State

    • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

    Pages 331-366

13. Vietnam: The Socialist Party State

    • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

    Pages 367-402

14. Conclusions: Comparing Governments and Political Institutions in Southeast Asia

    • Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

    Pages 403-442

This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the political systems of all ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste from a comparative perspective. It investigates the political institutions, actors and processes in eleven states, covering democracies as well as autocratic regimes. Each country study includes an analysis of the current system of governance, the party and electoral system, and an assessment of the state, its legal system and administrative bodies. Students of political science and regional studies will also learn about processes of democratic transition and autocratic persistence, as well as how civil society and the media influence the political culture in each country. 

• Politics of Southeast Asia
• System of government
• Political system
• ASEAN
• Democratization
• Autocratic regime
• Electoral system and elections
• Parties and party system
• State and public administration
• Civil-military relations
• Civil society and political culture
• Legal and judicial system
• ASEAN countries
• Southeast Asia
• democracy

• Institute of Political Science, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, Germany

  Aurel Croissant, Philip Lorenz

Aurel Croissant is professor of political science at Heidelberg University, Germany. His main areas of research include comparative politics of East and Southeast Asia, democratization studies, civil-military relations, conflict studies and comparative auhoritarianism. He has twenty years of experience in teaching undergraduate, graduate and doctoral courses in Germany, the USA and several Asian countries. He has published more than ten books, co-edited about 20 volumes and special issues, and published about 150 articles in journals such as Democratization, Party Politics, Japanese Journal of Political Science, Journal of East Asian Studies, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Pacific Review, Asian Journal of Political Science, Electoral Studies, and European Political Science Review. His publications appeared in English, German, Korean, Spanish, Indonesian and Russian. He is co-editor of the journal Democratization (with Jeffrey Haynes). 


Philip Lorenz is lecturer and researcher in political science at Heidelberg University, Germany. In his research, he studies processes of democratization and democratic consolidation with a focus on the role of civil-military relations. His further research areas include political violence and popular mobilization in authoritarian regimes, and young democracies. His regional specialty is Southeast Asia. He has taught introductory courses to political science, advanced courses on different aspects of democratization in Southeast Asia as well as on historical and current processes of state-building worldwide. In his dissertation, he analyzed the impact of civil society organizations on the institutionalization of civilian control over the military in Indonesia’s young democracy. 

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