Dokumentiert werden die Beiträge einer Konferenz gleichen Titels, die das genannte Institut in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Institut für Politische Wissenschaft der Universität Heidelberg im Oktober 1998 in Freiburg in der Schweiz abgehalten hat. Inhalt: Ronald L. Watts: Federalism in Asia. The Potential and the Limits (1-4); Thomas Fleiner: Some General Remarks on the Challenges of a Multicultural State (5-14); Lidija R. Basta Fleiner: Constitutional Democracy between Globalisation and Multiculturalism (15-29); Subrata K. Mitra: Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Post-Colonial Context. An Agenda in Search of a Theory (31-60); Paul Lim: The Politics of Asian Values (61-89); Subrata K. Mitra / Harihar Bhattacharyya: The Multicultural Challenge. The Post-Colonial State and Subnational Movements in India's Northeast (91-134); Sumit Ganguly: Kashmir and the Indian Union (135-151); Tulsi Ram Sharma: Multicultural Challenge and the Changing Contours of Punjab Politics (153-166); Suresh A. Khopade: Policing Communal Conflict: An Indian Example (165-185); Siri Hettige: Politics, Social Order and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka (187-203); Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema: Pakistan: The Challenge of Democratisation (205-233); Susanne Weigelin-Schwiedrzik: State and Society in the PRC. The View from the Countryside (235-259); Monika Schlicher / Peter Lehr: On the Broken Wings of Garuda. Prospects for Democracy in Indonesia (261-278); Du-Chel Sin / In-Hee Klein: Decentralisation: A Solution to Political Problems? The Case of South Korea (279-297); Bhavna Dave: Accomodation of Ethnocultural Diversity in the Post-Soviet World. Ethnic Entitlements and 'Civic' Statehood in Kazakhstan (299-314); Harihar Bhattacharyya / Subrata K. Mitra: Conclusion: The Multicultural Challenge, Rule of Law and Organisation of the State in Asia: Some Policy Implications (315-329).