This is a conference-and-edited volume project on comparative coalition politics in five Asian democracies, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan, comparing patterns of coalition politics across these countries and with the patterns traced in the comparative literature on Western democracies. A conference was held in Bangkok on March 25-26, 2004. The following scholars wrote country papers on coalition politics: Takako Hirose, Senshu University (Japan); Likhit Dhiravegin, Thammasat University and Member of Parliament, Thailand (Thailand); Zakaria Haji Ahmad, National University of Malaysia (Malaysia); Jayadeva Uyangoda, University of Colombo (Sri Lanka); E. Sridharan, UPIASI (India). After revision and updates, an edited volume, E. Sridharan, ed., Coalition Politics and Democratic Consolidation in Asia, Oxford University Press, 2012, has been published. The project was supported by the Japan Foundation and Mahindra & Mahindra Limited.