The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has in the last decade attempted to implement a more ‘people-centered’ approach to governance and shake off its reputation as an elite-driven regional project. This includes the formulation of a new 2045 ASEAN community vision that sets out to defend the ‘principles of democracy, rule of law and good governance’ (ASEAN 2025). Despite the promising rhetoric, there are arguably three ‘democratic deficits’ that make it increasingly difficult for the actualisation of any ASEAN community vision. First, very little has actually changed in the formal institutional channels through which grassroots voices can meaningfully influence ASEAN governmental policy. NGOs in particular are still locked out and intentionally side-lined in summits and forums. Second, the region has been experiencing a well-known ‘illiberal shift’ across a large number of ASEAN member states that has increasingly put civic spaces under threat as governments seek to obstruct, construct and censure organisations. Finally, the ASEAN forums, such as the Bali Democracy Forum (BDF) where the substantive content of democracy is debated are increasingly subject to great power geo-politcal tensions. US disengagement and China’s new democratic rhetoric create new political ambiguity on the very meaning of democracy. In this paper, I explore how Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs) within ASEAN navigate these complex institutional, regulatory and discursive deficits in their attempts to promote a more inclusive ASEAN community vision.
