This article presents a critical review of the statist perspective on East Asian political economy. The statist perspective is found lacking in its claims to explain economic performance, neglectful of intra-state dynamics, and inadequate in its depictions of state-society relations. Studies attempting to remedy these shortcomings through an application of concepts from network theory are also examined. These studies provide a conceptually richer description of state-society interaction. However, they fall short of explaining the essentially political nature of interaction, both between state and society and within the state. New directions for research are suggested.The key elements of the alternative approach are politics, institutions and leadership choice. These factors are widely acknowledged to be mutually influencing; however, the nature of their interrelations is only vaguely understood. A crucial task of research lies in explaining how politics, institutions and leadership choices interact to constitute lines of policy and to shape trajectories of economic development.East Asia's remarkable economic success over the past three decades has bred a powerful new paradigm in the field of development economics and comparative political economy, centering around the concept of the developmental state (Onis 1991).' The paradigm attributes impressive economic performance by Japan and the East Asian Newly Industrializing Countries, especially South Korea and Taiwan, to the choice of efficient, coherent, and flexible economic policies and their effective implementation. Central to the developmental state paradigm are a state structure characterized by executive dominance, bureaucratic unity, and the technical competence of bureaucrats; a large pool of policy instruments, selective and strategic use of resources and instruments; and the political capacity to insulate economic decision-making and implementation from contending political and social interests (Johnson 1982;

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