Democratization in Confucian Societies

China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore share a cultural legacy and have all been doing well economically over the years—two of the factors which have often been associated with democratization. Yet, thus far, two (Taiwan and South Korea) are democratic while the other two (China and Singapore) are not. It is argued in this article that factors other than culture and economy have played a significant role in facilitating democracy in Taiwan and South Korea but are not present in China and Singapore. One such factor is a quasi-pluralistic social order—ethnic division in Taiwan and regionalism in South Korea—which drives people to seek democracy to redress their grievances, to help solve the collective action problem, and to provide resources (e.g., popular support) in their fight against the authoritarian regime. Such a social order is not present in China or Singapore.