Die Beiträge spiegeln die Ergebnisse des Symposiums "Democracy and Democratization in Asia" wieder, das im Mai 1994 an der Universität von Louvain (Belgien) veranstaltet wurde. Demokratisierungsprozesse sind für die Herausgeberin weder singulär mit der klassischen normativen Demokratietheorie noch mit der "realistischen", auf Schumpeter zurückgehenden Schule zu erfassen: "A combination of both approaches is required to analyse the current problems and future prospects of democracy, be it in America, Asia, Europe or elsewhere in the world." (12) In ihrem abschließenden Beitrag ordnet Schmiegelow die Autoren des Bandes den verschiedenen Denkschulen zu und skizziert ein übergeordnetes Theoriegerüst, das Elemente der konkurrierenden Ansätze aufgreift. Inhalt: Introduction: Michèle Schmiegelow: The Meaning of Democracy in Asia (21-59). 1. Religion, Ethics, Pluralism and the Theory of Democracy in Asia: Henrik Schmiegelow: Community, Society and Ethics in Democracy (63-80); Seizaburo Sato: Asia and Democracy (81-91); Gilbert F. Rozman: Confucian Ethics and Legitimacy of Authority in China and Japan (93-112); Gregor Paul: Reflections on the tertium non datur. Theories and Applications in Chinese and European Philosophies (113-125); Bassam Tibi: Democracy and Democratization in Islam. The Quest or an Islamic Enlightenment (127-146); Baudouin Dupret: Interpreting Political Islam. A Diachronic Approach to the Koranic Matrix (147-174); Kuldeep Mathur: Hindu Assertion, Casteism and Indian Democracy (175-193); N. Ganesan: Cultural Pluralism and the Unifying Potential of Democracy in South-East Asia (195-214). II. National and Regional Patterns of Democracy and Democratization in Asia: Takashi Inoguchi: The Pragmatic Evolution of Japanese Democratic Politics (217-231); Junko Kato: Withering Factionalism? The Future of Japanese and Italian Partisan Politics (233-254); Masayuki Tandokoro: Between the West and Asia. Japan's Position on Human Rights Issues (255-273); Zhang Wei-Wei: Deng Xiaoping's Political Reform and its Impact on China's Democratization (275-296); Kay Möller: Pragmatic Reform in Post-Tienanmen China? (297-320); Kwon Tai-Hwan / Cho Hein: Confucianism and Korean Society. A Historical Basics of Korean Democratization (321-338); Philippe Regnier: International Security, Political Enlargement and Democratization (339-364); Brigitte Piquard: Pakistan between Cultural Factionalism and Political Pragmatism (365-398); Kingsley M. de Silva: Sri Lanka: Background to Ethnic Conflict in a Functioning Democracy (399-426); Greg Barton: Islamic Liberalism and the Prospects for Democracy in Indonesia (427-451); Lawrence Gray: The Aftermath of Democratization in the Philippines. The Task of consolidating Progress (453-473); Börje Ljunggren: Beyond Reform. On the Dynamics between Economic and Political Change in Vietnam (475-506); Raoul M. Jennar: Democratization in Cambodia. Hopes and Limits (507-530). Conclusion: Michèle Schmiegelow: Democracy in Asia. Cultures, Power, Economics and Civilization (533-549).