The effect of academic freedom on electoral democracy in the Asian region
| Published date | 01 August 2024 |
| Author | Ajantha Sisira Kumara,Ramanie Samaratunge |
| Date | 01 August 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/pad.2044 |
Received: 17 February 2023
-
Revised: 27 February 2024
-
Accepted: 12 March 2024
DOI: 10.1002/pad.2044
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The effect of academic freedom on electoral democracy in
the Asian region
Ajantha Sisira Kumara
1
|Ramanie Samaratunge
2
1
Department of Public Administration,
University of Sri Jayewardenepura,
Gangodawila, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
2
Department of Management, Monash
Business School, Monash University,
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
Correspondence
Ajantha Sisira Kumara.
Email: mhasisira@sjp.ac.lk
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.
KEYWORDS
academic freedom, Asian region, dynamic models, electoral democracy, panel data
1
|
INTRODUCTION
The number of democracies in the world decreased in 2022, and this
change, termed democratic backsliding has become prominent in Asia
(Mercado, 2022). Currently, over four billion people in Asia live under
electoral democracy, experiencing narrow (and narrowing further in
some instances) spaces for their civil society, thereby weakening
democratic institutions, and increased‐authoritarianism. As Ber-
meo (2016) argues, the trend of democratic backsliding that con-
tinues in Asia basically involves state‐led weakening or elimination of
electoral democracy; Bermeo also emphasizes that strategic manip-
ulation of elections has become a norm in affected Asian countries,
even in instances where nominally regular elections are held. Gil-
ley's (2021) argument is that the Asian region has demonstrated a
delayed‐democratic transition due to the state‐directed nature of
development. Most Asian countries place less emphasis on market
orientation when reforming their economies, and this may hamper
core democratic values. The Asian region also provides a good
research site to examine the nature of democratic backsliding and its
causes across a wide spectrum of regime types (Croissant & Haynes,
J., 2021; Brown, 2017), and because the region is home to 59.8% of
the total world population (United Nations, 2022) and 60% of youth
population (Ford & Hass, 2021). This therefore, warrants serious
research on the nature of any democratic backsliding and its causes.
In addressing democratic backsliding, a country's higher educa-
tion system plays a role as a vehicle for transmitting modern
orientations and democratic values (Korczyńska, 2020). Modern ori-
entations basically include key features of modern forms of de-
mocracy, representative democracy, in which freely‐conducted and
fairly adjudicated elections, civic engagement, natural rights, and an
agreed rule of law framework play a key role as democratic orienta-
tions. Democratic values reflect the democratic way of life of societal
members, including respect, equality, freedom, impartiality, fairness,
etc. Studies that investigate academic freedom‐democracy nexus
argue that the higher education systems directly or indirectly promote
democratic orientations in countries, irrespective of their political
regime model (Cole, 2010,2017; Kratou & Laakso, 2022). The argu-
ment is that one of key roles of universities is to constructively
Public Admin Dev. 2024;44:137–149. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pad © 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
-
137
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting