Democratisation and the prospects for participatory regionalism in Southeast Asia

Perceived Elitist and State-Centric Regional Integration Process: Impact on Public Opinions for the Formation of ASEAN Community

“…Pertaining to ASEAN, some scholarly works in regional studies have remarked that the regional integration process appears to be both elitist and state-centric, with little effort thus far to consult the voices of the masses (Acharya, 2003(Acharya, & 2009Sung, 2010;Thi, 2008). The conception of "community" in ASEAN is so elitist as it lacks one of the fundamental components of success in the European Community: the involvement of the general public (Abdullah and Benny, 2013;Moorthy and Benny, 2012a, 2012bBenny and Abdullah, 2011;Benny, Abdullah and Din, 2010;Benny, Rashila and Tham, 2014).…”

“…Studies on ASEAN are numerous, yet they were conducted using the elite decision making approach for assessing the establishment processes or the social, political, and economic challenges of ASEAN (Acharya 2003;Guerrero 2008;Hew 2007) as well as the readiness of the business sector for ASEAN Community (Abidin, Loh and Aziz 2012;Mugijayani and Kartika 2012). Studies involving public opinion in ASEAN are quite rare -only a few studies so far exist conducted by Benny, Rashila and Tham (2014); Abdullah and Benny (2013), Abdullah, Benny and Din (2010), Benny and Abdullah (2011), Moorthy and Benny (2012a, 2012b; and Thompson and Thianthai (2008).…”

The limits of democratizing interest representation: ASEAN’s regional corporatism and normative challenges

“…This argument implies an innovative attempt to extend the wellknown concept of corporatism beyond its conventional state-centric use to the analysis of regional governance. 'Regional corporatism' is a more nuanced concept than Acharya's 'participatory regionalism' (Acharya, 2003) which may evoke misleading notions of a liberal-pluralist concept of democracy. It is also superior to the traditional argument that ASEAN's current system of regional governance merely reflects the lowest common denominator among the grouping's politically, economically and culturally highly diverse membership.…”

Economic versus Political Liberalisation in ASEAN: Public Opinion among University Students in Four Member Countries

“…On political integration, some wellknown scholars- Acharya (2003), Caballero-Anthony (2008), andChavez (2007)-argue that the development and process of ASEAN Community appeared to be elitist and state-centric. On ASEAN economic integration, some studies (Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, ERIA 2012; Asian Development Bank Institute, ADBI 2012) indicate that there has been some success in achieving some of the goals of the Blueprint, economic 230 integration is still very much work in progress or the AEC is still essentially a community in the making, when measured against its stated goals.…”