Transforming the East Asian developmental state: Democratic mobilisation and the role of the middle class

Abstract

Many studies have noted the reduction in the effectiveness of the East Asian developmental state in formulating growth-promoting policy in South Korea and Taiwan. Current literature attributes the transformation of the developmental state model to the rise of business elites and organised labour. This article argues that another type of social actor – the middle class – also contributed to the state’s reduced capability in directing economic development. Unlike business elites and organised labour who directly challenge the state’s policy decision, the middle class forces East Asian ruling elites to democratise the political system of a country. The democratic transition pushed by the middle class consequently facilitates the emergence of policy constraints on the state’s economic decision-making process. I elaborate this argument in the two divergent cases: the transformation of the developmental state in South Korea and the non-transformation of the developmental state in Singapore.