HC is a broad concept which may be applied to most of the other countries
covered by this book at various points in time. HC was practised in South Korea
and Taiwan, both of which have undergone successful transition to GC since the
second half of the 1980 s. Malaysia and Singapore have trodden a stable and steady
path of constitutional development since independence which I would describe as
HC or close to GC, depending on how much weight we attach to civil liberties.
Other Southeast Asian countries experienced varying degrees of instability in the
course of their constitutional development. Among them, Indonesia may be
regarded as a case of transition from HC to GC since the turn of the century.
The Philippines since the democratisation of the 1980 s is a case of HC approximat-
ing GC. HC in Thailand has been characterised by cycles of military coups and
rule by democratically elected civilian politicians. The potential for GC under the
current constitution exists. HC in Cambodia is conditioned by Hun Sen’s
strongman rule. Myanmar has experienced significant periods of military rule
without even a constitutional document, but is now moving in the direction of
HC. Nepal, which has seen political instability and civil war in recent times but is
now in the process of making a new constitution, may be classified as a case of
HC with aspirations towards GC.
Generally speaking, the achievement of constitutionalism in Asia since the
end of the Second World War, and particularly since the 1980 s, has been consider-
able and significant. Although some scholars associate the Western form of liberal
constitutional democracy with imperialism and global capitalism,
86
the historical
evidence is that constitutionalism has appealed to Asian peoples in their
struggles for emancipation and justice, and has also been embraced by the
political elite in many Asian countries as a political order that is both morally
legitimate and practically appropriate for local conditions. If progress is at all
possible in human history, then the achievement of constitutionalism in the
governance of human societies may be regarded as a significant element and sign
of such progress. This book is a testimony to such progress in the context of Asian
societies in search of a legitimate and viable means of their own governance.
It shows that constitutionalism is still very much a work in progress in many parts
of Asia, a goal, an ideal and an aspiration for and towards which many people,
famous or anonymous, high or low, are working, toiling, struggling or suffering.
The ‘end of history’
87
is not yet in sight.
(^86) See, e.g., James Tully, ‘The imperialism of modern constitutional democracy’, in Martin
Loughlin and Neil Walker (eds.),The Paradox of Constitutionalism: Constituent Power
and Constitutional Form(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007 ), p. 315.
(^87) Francis Fukuyama,The End of History and the Last Man(New York: The Free Press,
1992 ).