I'va attached the file Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

I'va attached the file - Essay Example In Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, the process of democratisation has been studied through the muddled waters the civil society has waded to participate in national socioeconomic development, as shall be seen in the discourse that ensues forthwith. Thesis statement There is a clear and distinct relationship between the presence and vibrancy of the civil society and socioeconomic stability in any state, as can be seen in the ASEAN countries. Many political scientists contend that many have come to falsely believe that socioeconomic growth and stability can be realised through the attainment of strong authoritarian systems, due to the strong state apparatuses that these authoritarian systems possess. Countries such as Singapore and Malaysia are cited to underscore and validate this notion. However, a critical look at the development in the ASEAN countries indicates that authoritarian regimes inherently do not co-occur with socioeconomic development. ... The proximity of South Korea and Taiwan to Malaysia and Singapore could in fact have helped inject democratic elements such as political pluralism in Malaysia and Singapore. Chief among these democratic elements include the accommodation and acknowledgement of the civil society in politics. The very autocratic environment in which political plurality is absent is on the contrary, the very drawback that staves off stable democratic transitions and allows dictators to frustrate the actualisation of reforms and democratisation. Defined as the realm of activities and institutions that exist outside the government's direct control of the government, the civil society has mobilized the society on matters that are directly related to socioeconomic development such as corruption, governance and transparency, in ASEAN countries (Hewison, 137). The standpoint above about the civil society is well exemplified by the manner in which the civil society in Malaysia has concerted its effort to fight politically instigated economic corruption. On 20 March 2013, a group of civil society organisations asked the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to expedite investigations on a dossier that had exposed Tan Sri A. T. Mahmud, the Sarawak Chief Minister and his family as participants in an unlawful and corrupt land deal. Apart from the fact that the land deal was bound to cost the government its source of revenue; thousands of the indigenous people living on that land were to be displaced. Similarly, beside the call by firebrand civil society Aliran to have full investigations carried out over the matter, frantic calls were also successfully made by Haris Ibrahim and his colleges in the ABU movement, to have