This handbook showcases the rich varieties of legislatures that exist in Asia and explains how
political power is constituted in 17 jurisdictions in East, Southeast and South Asia.
Legislatures in Asia come in all stripes. Liberal democracies co-exist cheek by jowl with
autocracies; semi-democratic and competitive authoritarian systems abound. While all
legislatures exist to make law and confer legitimacy on the political leadership, how representative they are of the people they govern differs dramatically across the continent, such that
it is impossible to identify a common Asian prototype. Divided into thematic and countryby-country sections, this handbook is a one-stop reference that surveys the range of political
systems operating in Asia. Each jurisdiction chapter examines the structure and composition
of its legislature, the powers of the legislature, the legislative process, thereby providing a clear
picture of how each legislature operates both in theory and in practice. The book also thematically analyses the following political systems operating in Asia: communist regimes, liberal
democracies, dominant party democracies, turbulent democracies, presidential democracies,
military regimes and protean authoritarian rule.
This handbook is a vital and comprehensive resource for scholars of constitutional law and
politics in Asia.