The effect of academic freedom on electoral democracy in the Asian region

Abstract

This paper examines how academic freedom influences electoral democracy in 44 Asian nations drawing on country‐wide panel data (2000–2019) obtained from the Varieties of Democracy (V‐Dem)‐2022. For its analytical framework, this study employs dynamic panel regression models. The Asian region, which represents the world's largest and most economically dynamic democracies, is an interesting research site to investigate this nexus due to the region's long‐term struggle to achieve its democratic aspirations. The study finds that the current‐level of electoral democracy in Asian countries is significantly associated with their antecedent level of academic freedom. Moreover, the results reveal that it takes approximately 7 years for academic freedom to yield a significant impact on electoral democracy. These results are robust across different sets of model specifications, sub‐samples, and definitions of academic freedom.