Panel presentation :

For the last two decades, discussions and studies about new forms of participation, political agency, and activity have proliferated. Regarding democratic settings, their starting point is often that traditional institutions (elections, parliamentarianism, the party system, administrative state, etc.) are incapable of responding to the challenges posed by globalization, professionalization of politics, intensified individualism, and the plurality of identities. Paradoxically, illiberal regimes have also resorted to public participation, as institutions have often proved inefficient and unable to guaranty public good. In Asia, this participatory turn has also taken place but too few initiatives allow discussions among Asian and Western scholars and comparisons between various national situations and political regimes. This panel thus investigates citizens' participation in different polities: constitutional monarchies (Thailand, Cambodia), young democracies (Taiwan and Philippines) as well as in an authoritarian regime: China. Its main focus is to understand and compare how institutionalized and non-institutionalized political participation articulate and complement each other, namely focusing on the various channels citizens use to monitor elections or to participate to the decision and law-making process beyond electoral procedures. Stithorn Thananithichot will investigate the variables affecting participatory disparities among social groups in Thailand. Chompunoot Tangthavorn's paper assesses citizen participation in the legislative processes of Thailand and Cambodia. Emilie Frenkiel will focus on the effective contribution of civic hackers in Taiwanese citizens' online participation in the policy-making process since the Sunflower movement. Chloé Froissart will present the role played by environmental NGOs in designing a new model of environmental governance in the Chinese authoritarian regime. Chiu Hua-Mei will present the role of Taiwan's anti-nuclear environmental groups in the merging energy governance. Finally, Nattakarn Sukolratanametee will introduce the role of civil society in monitoring the electoral process in the Philippines.