1. Introduction

This book explores and analyzes governance and policy issues in South, Southeast, and East Asia. The authors map governance challenges and analyze current trends from the perspectives of politics and administration. Public administration and governance systems in these regions have undergone phenomenal changes during the last three decades and have played a key role in economic progress, especially in the Southeast and East Asian nations. The state has been the driving force for economic growth and social developments. Despite state dominance, in recent years other actors such as civil society organizations and NGOs, regional and local governments, supra-national entities such as the UNDP and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and other multilateral agencies such as the World Band and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are increasingly finding space and setting priorities in policy making. The trend is now a tilt towards more network and multi-level governance. Rich with evidence and analyses, these chapters use empirical and other research methods to examine contemporary issues, trends, challenges, and best-practice paradigms. Their additional aim is to develop a greater understanding of changes in the forms of governance, both within individual national contexts and from a comparative perspective.