East meets West : human rights and democracy in East Asia / Daniel A. Bell.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 337-352) and index.

The East Asian Challenge to Human Rights and Democracy. Reflections on East-West Dialogues -- Toward a Truly International Human Rights Regime -- Trade-offs -- Rights vs. Development: A Zero-Sum Game? -- The Need for Specificity -- An Asian Voice on Human Rights? -- Human Rights: A Western Invention? -- Increasing commitment to Human Rights in East Asia: Strategic Considerations -- On the Prospects of Exporting American Ideals to East Asia -- Appealing to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Asia -- Local justifications for Human Rights -- A Different Moral Standpoint? -- Cultural Respect vs. Liberal Neutrality -- Justifiable Constraints on Western-Style Rights -- New "Asian" Rights: Expanding the Set of Internationally Recognized Rights -- Democratic Rights: On the Importance of Local Knowledge -- Trade-off Issues -- On the Possibility of Decent Nondemocratic Regimes -- The Costs of Democratization -- Democratic Rights: Different justifications -- Limiting the Power of the State -- Democracy as a Means for Nation-Building -- Identifying the Agents of Democratization -- Nation-Building and Social Consensus in Confucian Democracies -- Democratic Rights: Different Constraints -- Democracy vs. Civil Rights -- Democracy vs. Social and Economic Rights -- Democracy vs. Future Generations -- The Pros and Cons of Democracy in Singapore: A Fictitious Dialogue with Lee Kuan Yew -- Is Liberal Democracy Suitable for Singapore? -- Democracy Defined as Free and Fair Competitive Elections -- Democracy justified (Only) by Its Consequences.