Rethinking the Regime Effect on Migration Governance: Immigration, Democracy and Developmentalism in East Asia

How do democracies balance immigration needs with economic priorities, demographic pressures and public attitudes toward migrants? Focusing on Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, this talk challenges conventional assumptions about the relationship between democracy and migration policy. Rather than viewing immigration governance simply as liberal or restrictive, it examines the emergence of the “developmental migration state,” in which governments strategically recruit, channel and return different categories of migrants to advance broader national objectives. Comparing policies across three affluent East Asian democracies, the presentation offers a new framework for understanding how economic development, demographic change and social priorities shape migration governance beyond traditional Western models.