A 'Fragile Foundation'; Massive anti-Thaksin street protests underscore a growing disillusionment with democracy in Asia.

Byline: George Wehrfritz and Joe Cochrane (With Marites Vitug in Manila, Jonathan Adams in Taipei and B. J. Lee in Seoul)

It might look as if history were repeating itself: just as in the 1970s, ' 80s and '90s, defiant protesters have taken to Bangkok's streets in a bid to oust a Thai leader they revile. Yet this time their nemesis isn't a swaggering general who seized power in a coup, but a populist prime minister who won re-election in a landslide barely a year ago. Thaksin Shinawatra, say his critics, has abused state power to enrich himself and undermine representative government. But that doesn't negate the irony on display as self-professed democrats attempt to oust a still-popular elected leader--with force, not votes. "It's the only way to fight a tyrant," says anti-Thaksin political analyst Chaiyan Chaiporn.

What about elections? Thaksin has called a snap vote for this Sunday--yet, knowing he'd win handily (rural Thais remain steadfastly loyal), the three main opposition parties have opted to boycott the contest and even appealed to Thailand's revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, to name a new leader. Their frustration with the electoral system has echoes across the region's youngest democracies. Protesters in the Philippines have similarly sought to oust an elected president, and even in South Korea and Taiwan, voters are increasingly tuning out of a shrill and deadlocked political culture. Indeed, what Chu Yun-han, professor of political science at National Taiwan University (NTU), calls "democracy fatigue" is spreading from Seoul to Jakarta.

The disillusionment has grown because the social improvements people dreamed of when first casting their votes haven't materialized. The East Asian Barometer, an annual comparative study of political attitudes in 10 East Asian nations, has recorded consistent dissatisfaction with democratic governance since 2001. According to a recent poll, just 41 percent of respondents in Taiwan, and 49 percent in South Korea, agree with the idea that "democracy is the best system under all circumstances." In the Philippines and Thailand, "sympathy for authoritarian alternatives" runs so high, says Chu, that democracy rests "on a rather fluid and fragile foundation."

Part of the problem is that elections have in many cases failed to produce cleaner, fairer governance. In the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has never come clean about her role in a 2004 vote-rigging scandal despite an opposition-led impeachment drive and the resignation of key ministers in protest. That led to a recent coup attempt (the nation's ninth since dictator Ferdinand Marcos fled the country in 1986) and talks for her to resign. Many of those calling for her early departure picture themselves as champions of democracy. "The distrust for this administration has become so deep that an alternative most people do not like suddenly becomes attractive to them," says Guillermo Luz of the Makati Business Club, an elite group of executives.

Where elections have been close or contested, as in the United States in 2000, politics have also become ...