"This excellent book makes a welcome addition to the literature on political parties. Not only does it provide us with an all-too rare English-language analysis of East Asian parties, but it makes an important contribution to the wider comparative literature by combining party theory with historical institutionalism to argue that party organizations evolve out of the interplay of structural factors ... Read moreand the decisions taken by particular leaders." Paul Webb, Professor of Politics, Department of Politics & Contemporary European Studies, University of Sussex, UK "Olli Hellmann makes an important contribution to our understanding of political parties in East and South East Asia. Much of the existing work on parties in Asia has been limited to single party or single country studies. In contrast, this volume applies western party theories to help understand party formation and change in four new democracies. This is the first study I have seen that adequately compares political party development in East and South East Asia. As well as being theoretically sophisticated, the study is also empirically very rich." Dafydd Fell, Senior Lecturer, Department of Politics and International Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, UK "Political parties are at the core of representative democracy. The state of party politics greatly affects the functioning of democracy. Until recently, however, there have been only few comparative analyses of party organizations and electoral strategies in East Asia. This comparative study greatly improves our understanding of political party development as an essential element in the process of democratization and democratic consolidation. The comparison of four systems of political parties offers unique insights into the societal genesis, institutional evolution and electoral consequences of party organizations in democratizing Asia. It is essential reading for everyone who is interested in the study of party politics in Asia and well beyond. " Aurel Croissant, Director, Institute of Political Science, Heidelberg University, Germany Show Less