East and West. Philosophy, ethics, politics and human rights
Band 7
ed. by H.-C. Günther
Advisory Committee: Anwar Alam, Ram Adhar Mall, Sebastian Scheerer Ethics, Politics and Law: East and West
Ed. H.-C. Günther
Verlag Traugott Bautz GmbH Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.
Coverabbildung:
Timuridic Representation of Mohammed from the Mi`rajnama, 1436 Confucius, Gouache on Papier, ca. 1710 Raffaello, Plato, The School of Athens, 510-11
Verlag Traugott Bautz GmbH 99734 Nordhausen 2018 ISBN 978-3-95948-387-2 Harro von Senger
Democracy as word and as concepts
Abbreviations: CCP Chinese Communist Party PRC People's Republic of China UN United Nations
"Democracy is a word with a diverse history and many meanings."2 In most Western publications on democracy, however, only the Western history of this word and its Western meanings are discussed. The Western word "Democracy" is a combination of the Greek words "demos = people" and "kratos = rule". From a purely linguistic point of view, "democracy" (in German: "Volksherrschaft") could be interpreted as "rule of the people" (Herrschaft des Volkes, also Herrschaft, die durch das
1 I would like to thank Prof em. Rafael Ferber, University of Luzern/Switzerland, for his help in writing the section about Realism and Nominalism, and Ms Elena Hinshaw, Einsiedeln, as well as Mr. Daniel Boyer, Montreal, for their competent language advice. 2 „Demokratie ist ein Wort mit einer vielfältigen Geschichte und vielen Bedeutungen ", Daniel Thürer: Direkte Demokratie - mehr als nur Mehrheitsentscheid, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 26 June 2012, p. 51, https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton /direkte-demokratie--mehr-als- nur-mehrheitsentscheid-1.17279765, date of access: 6 August 2017. Von Senger
Volk ausgeübt wird), but also as "rule over the people" (Herrschaft über das Volk, also Herrschaft, die ein Herrscher über das Volk ausübt). In this second meaning, the oldest Chinese word for today's "democracy" was originally understood as will be seen later. In Western countries there are differing understandings of the essence of democracy. For instance, because of Swiss direct democracy, Swiss people have another understanding of "democracy" than citizens in France or in Germany who live in a representative democracy. When the word "democracy" is used in non-European languages, even greater conceptual differences arise. In my contribution, translation issues and conceptual problems concerning "democracy" are discussed, while focusing on Chinese vocabulary. In language lessons, we usually learn "words". The attention is not so much put on the concepts carried by words, that is to say on the implicit meaning or set of meanings of the words or expressions. We use "dictionaries" and not "conceptionaries". It is easy to find in English-Chinese or Chinese-English dictionaries the equivalent Chinese word for the English word "democracy":
32 Democracy as Word and Concept
democracy; democratic ri is democratic_ 4, f1 - He has a democratic wry- style. As one can see, only two words are juxtaposed. Nothing is said about the meaning of the English and of the Chinese word. A Westerner takes it normally for granted that the word "democracy" has the same meaning in both languages, that it harbours the same concept. If somebody learns Chinese based on ordinary language teaching material and dictionaries, he or she easily falls into the trap to believe that words such as "democracy" would have the same meaning in Western and Chinese languages. Many people believe that word equivalence is synonymous with conceptual equivalence. This is a big error that leads to major intercultural misunderstandings. Word equivalence in different languages does not always imply conceptual equivalence. With respect to technical and natural science terminology, there exists such an equivalence, but much less with respect to legal, political and philosophical terms. If a European has only learned Chinese grammar and Chinese words but not the concepts which the Chinese words contain, despite fluently speaking Chinese with a Chinese person, he or she will not realize that certain words, especially important words like "democracy" and "human rights", are understood in the
33 Von Senger mind of the Chinese quite differently, as the European understands them. The European and the Chinese might discuss for hours, but they talk over each other. The Chinese word .± "minzhu", dates back to the classical Confucian "Book of History 5 Shujing" which was composed over 2000 years ago.
Ba. XVIII. Pp. 6, 7. NI MERODTS REQION& 497 )6 it It 0 T Wi Aç )›..1 itafi Ti 0 tv &or,* X* El 'It 301 If 71-4 T h g4), L.4*telit/filic*Tit. Kb A: IA 75 ILO tt4 "Minzhu" in the classical Confucian "Book of History (0 -3
Shujing)", Book XVIII, Duo Fang 75- (Numerous Regions) 3 min" can be translated as "people", and "± zhu" can be translated as "ruler" or "to rule" 4. So theoretically the term could
3 The Chinese Classics with a translation, critical and exegetical notes, prolegomena, and copious indexes by James Legge in five volumes. [Volume] III. The Shoo King or The Book of Historical Documents, repritnt Taibei 1971, p. 497., 2
34 Democracy as Word and Concept mean "the people rules". But in the Confucian "Book of History", the word.R± "minzhu" means "ruler of the people". The great
British sinologist James Legge translates it as "Lord of the people". Originally, "R± minzhu" does not mean that the people are ruling themselves. With regard to the political system, there had never been democracy of any kind in the Chinese history before the 20th century. Therefore, at the beginning of a more intensive Sino-western contact, when news of the Western democracy spread into China in the 19 th century, ordinary people did not understand the concept. They felt very surprised and puzzled, and they had no word for it. They commented on the democratic system of the U.S.A. in the following way: "The American emperor passed down his position to the worthy, not to his son." "The former emperor Pierce Franklin [...] died today." "The American monarch changes every four years, and he is chosen by the public." "The American ruler of the people has changed." Apparently, in these Chinese texts, the ruler of the people, the emperor and the monarch have the same meaning. With further understanding of western democracy, people came to know that the heads of state in weste rn countries were elected by
4 Hanyu Da Cidian (Great Dictionary of the Chinese Language), vol. 1, Sh anghai 1986, p. 693; Werner Rüdenberg; Hans O. H. Stange: Chinesisch-Deutsches Wörterbuch, Dritte erweiterte, völlig neu bearbeitete Auflage, Hamburg 1963, p. 580.
35 Von Senger the people and whether to keep them in office or not was up to the people to decide. In a sense, the president was not a ruler or master of the people, instead, the people themselves were the masters or rulers. Thus the term R± "minzhu" was kept, but its meaning changed from a person ruling the people to a kind of condition of being ruled by the people, originally from a translation for President to a term for the entire democratic system. It became the special term for the English word "democracy" translated into Chinese. 5 Now at the beginning of the 21st century, in Europe and in the USA, the word "democracy" means a liberal democracy. According to common opinion in Europe and in the USA, democracy is characterized by a multiparty system, periodic free elections and separation of powers. If for instance a State in Africa conducts elections, Western states will often send observers of the elections or send troops to ensure the implementation of reasonably fair elections by Western standards. What happens after the elections is not a matter of concern to the Western protagonists of "democracy". Are the elections considered to be free and
5 Xiong Yuzhi: A Summary of the Historical Development of the Chinese Democratic Thought, SASS [Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences] Papers, 1988, p. 273.
36 Democracy as Word and Concept correct by Western standards, then the Western states consider the state as "democratic". They send no observers to inspect the "rule of law" or the separation of power, and even less in order to investigate the effectiveness of the elected parliament or president with respect to economic progress, fight against corruption and so on. If only the elections were correct, it is sufficient for Western states to acknowledge the state as to be democratic. Multiparty system and free elections together with the separation of powers form, from the contemporary Western point of view, that kind of democracy which is the only true democracy deserving this name. However, there is the case of No rth Korea which is not considered a democracy in the West but which calls itself Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The People's Republic of China which also is not considered a democracy by Western countries, is according to Article 1, sub-section 1 of its Constitution of December 4, 1982, a "socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants." 6 In the General Program of the Statute of the CCP of 14 November 2012 7, the
6Verfassung der Volksrepublik China, http://www.verfassungen.net/rc/verf82.htm, date of access: 6 August 2017. 7 ` IllA1 A. J(Statute oft he CCP, General Programme), http://news.xinhuanet.com/18cpcnc/2012-11/18/c 113714762.htm, date of access: 6 August 2017.
37 Von Senger
word "democracy" appears 24 times, whereas the Cha rter 08 of the
Peace Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiaobo (1955-2017) which is about
the same length as the General Programme of the CCP, states the
word democracy only 17 times. 8 " "Democracy" (minzhu t ,. .) is ■ one of the twelve "shehuizhuzi hexin jiazhi 4} k • ; *14
(socialist core values)" written in 24 Chinese characters
propagated in the PRC. 9 In other words, the PRC claims to be in
its way a "democratic" country.
How should we evaluate this use of the word "democracy"? First
of all, one can notice that the word "democracy" has been
globalized. It is used worldwide at the beginning of the 21st
century, always with a positive connotation. But the currently
common Western concept of democracy (first of all: multiparty
system, regular free elections, rule of law, separation of powers) is
not globalized. The word "democracy" is not understood on our
planet in the same way as it is understood today in the West.
8 Harro von Senger: We rt ' in China, in: Ivo De Gennaro (Hg.): Value: Sources and Readings on a Key Concept of the Globalized World, paru dans la collection Studies on the Interaction of Art, Thought and Power,éditée par H. Günther, vol. 5, Brill, Leiden/Boston 2012, p. 409. 9 Zhong Gong Zhongyang Bangongting yinfa „Guanyu peiyu he jianxing shehuizhuzi hexin jiazhiguan de yijian" $ 1 itltiAj}iiz,;)TEp%c (x.±fÀ fp,TT*fIX ,^, ti an`J J5 )) (The General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued the (Opinions on Cultivating and Practicing the Concept of Socialist Core Values)) ), 23 December 2013, http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2013-12/23/c 118674689.htm, date of access: 4 August 2017.
38 Democracy as Word and Concept
According to Article 1 of its Constitution of December 4, 1982, the PRC is a state "led by the working class". Since the CCP declares itself to be the "vanguard" of the working class, the PRC is actually led by the CCP. The CCP considers Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong-Thought etc. as its "guide to action (xingdong zhinan iT RJJ â ICJ)". 10 In his treatise "Enemies of the People"", Lenin mentions a law of the French Republic of 1793 relating to enemies of the people and writes: "The Jacobins proclaimed enemies of the people those promoting the schemes of the allied tyrants directed against the Republic. [...] The Jacobins' example is instructive [..]. Enemies of the people in the twentieth century are not the monarchs, but the landowners and capitalists as a class." According to Leninism which in this respect was influenced by the French Revolution of 1789, Mao Zedong applied the distinction between "people" and "enemies of the people" to China. In his treatise "On the correct handling of contradictions among the people" he writes: "We are confronted with two types of social contradictions -- those between ourselves and the enemy and those among the people. [...] We must first be clear on what is
10 ill IM Vt ft * fi , 0r A1 (Statute oft he CCP, General Programm, alinea 2), http://news.xinhuanet.com/18cpcnc/2012-11/18/c 113714762.htm, date of access: 6 August 2017. 11 Lenin: Über die Volksfeinde, in: Lenin: Werke, Band 25, Dietz Verlag Berlin 1977, S. 45.
39 Von Senger meant by `the people' and what is meant by `the enemy'. [ ... ] The concept of `the people' varies in content [...] in different periods of history in a given country." Then, he describes the changing content of the word `people' and of the expression `enemies of the people'. "At the present stage", he says, "during the period of building socialism, the classes, strata and social groups which favour, support and work for the cause of socialist construction all come within the category of the people, while the social forces and groups which resist the socialist revolution and are hostile to or sabotage socialist construction are all enemies of the people." The period of building socialism is at the beginning of the 21 St century still going on according to the opinion of the CCP. In line with the Mao Zedong Thought which was influenced by the Jacobins and Leninism, the word "people" referred to in the People's Republic of China designates those Chinese citizens who suppo rt the rule of the Chinese Communist Party (or at least do not actively oppose it). Those who propagate the establishment in China of a democracy as it is understood in the West, are classified as "enemies of the people". "Enemies of the people" do not belong to the "people". "Democracy" in the sense of the "rule of the people" in accordance with the Chinese Marxist-Leninist perspective, means the rule of "the people", that is to say of those citizens who accept the rule of the CCP, over the "enemies of the people", that
40 Democracy as Word and Concept is to say those citizens who actively oppose the rule of the CCP. The "people" in this sense of the word, represented by the CCP, exercises the dictatorship over the enemies of the people. The "people" enjoys full freedom of expression and — under the guidance of the CCP - exercises "democracy" through elections of the members of local parliaments up to the district level. Of course, such a concept of "democracy" does not correspond to the common weste rn idea of liberal democracy. Therefore, one could read in the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel that the People's Republic of China is "one of the most undemocratic nations of the world." 12 And Francis Fukuyama, the author of the bestseller The End of History and the Last Man (1992), asserts: In my view, the historical development finally leads to a form of capitalist, liberal democracy. [...] China [...] is actually the only country which seriously is challenging my thesis. China [...] is the only alternative to a liberal, capitalist democracy. The country has become technically
12 Andreas Lorenz, Wieland Wagner: Die Rotchina-AG, in: Der Spiegel, Berlin, Nr. 3/15.1.2007, http ://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-50186302.html, date of access: 1 August.2017.
41 Von Senger
and economically advanced - but it operates modernization without democracy. 13 Should we in line with Fukuyama's argument forbid the PRC to call itself "democratic"? This is probably not possible because the words "democracy" and "democratic" do not enjoy trademark protection. These words are freely usable. Can we at least say that in the PRC, the word "democracy" is "misunderstood" or even "abused" ? Can we accuse the People's Republic of China to have "usurped a Western word"? I have my doubts. I want to explain my doubts by refering to three arguments. 1. "Realism" and "Nominalism". 14 2. Conceptual hegemonism (Begriffshegemonismus) 3. Legal positivism and Natural Law theory
Let me first argue from the point of view of Realism and Nominalism which are two important positions in western philosophy.
13 „Demokratie stiftet keine Identität ". Ist das Modell des Westens am Ende? Ein Gespräch mit dem amerikanischen Politikwissenschaftler Francis Fukuyama, in: Die Zeit, Hamburg 17 March 2016, p. 50. 14 See also Rafael Ferber: Philosophische Grundbegriffe, 8th edition, München 2008, p. 143-152; english translation under the title Key Concepts in Philosophy, St. Augustin 2015, p.155-166.
42 Democracy as Word and Concept
According to the concept of Realism, reality is governed by a set of abstract entities called "universals". The "universals" refer to these abstract entities. According to Plato, ultimate reality exists in the universals which are grasped by concepts, that is the meaning of general expressions, reflected through human words. In contrast, according to Nominalism, "universals" do not exist. In reality there are only particular things. 151 U The words refer always to particular things. Words such as "democracy" are human products and can be provided arbitrarily with this or that meaning. By declaring the "capitalist, liberal democracy" as the only true democracy, Francis Fukuyama, in the quotation above, raises his own definition of the meaning of "democracy" (multi-party system, regular elections„ separation of powers) to a ce rtain extent, without being perhaps aware, to a quasi-Platonic idea, doing so as if this Western contemporary interpretation of democracy would in itself, so to speak, from all eternity and for all eternity, exist. But even from Plato's point of view, such an quasiplatonic idea of a human artefact like democracy does not exist in itself and independently of the human mind. When with respect to North Korea and the PRC people in the West say today that in those countries the term "democracy" is
43 Von Senger
"misunderstood" or "abused", then they adhere to a quasi-Platonic conceptual realism of the meaning of the word "democracy". 2. Conceptual imperialism One could also argue that the West pursues conceptual imperialism (Begriffsimperialismus). The West claims to have the sole access to the "true" understanding of ce rtain concepts such as the concept of democracy. A non-Weste rn country should accordingly apply to some Western instance to get the use of the word "democracy" certified; otherwise its application of this word would be prohibited. 3. Legal positivism and Natural Law Theory The western approaches to the word "democracy" could be considered also from a third point of view, namely from the point of view of legal positivism with the most prominent representative Hans Kelsen (1881-1973), the author of the "Pure Theory of Law (Reine Rechtslehre)", and from the point of view of the Natural Law Theory represented for example by Gustav Radbruch (1878- 1949 ). According to Kelsen, "the content of the law can be
44 Democracy as Word and Concept anything whatsoever." 16 According to Kelsen's point of view, North Korea and the People's Republic of China can in their constitutional law give to the word "democracy" the content that they want to give. Not so according to Gustav Radbruch's view of Natural Law. According to his Natural Law concept of "democracy", a "democratic" country must, if it wants to deserve the label "democracy", fulfill ce rtain essential requirements anchored for eternal times in "Nature" such as, a multiparty system, regular elections and separation of powers. Who has ultimate access to Natural Law fundamentals of "democracy"? Western people would probably argue that only Western people, - maybe the American president or the Pope - are authorized to certify worldwide, on behalf of Natural Law, democratic nations. In the international community, represented by the UN, the tendency prevails to reject the Platonic-realistic and also the
16 Hans Kelsen: Pure Theory of Law, second edition, Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Presse, 1967, para 34 (c), at 198; George Pavlako (ed.): Law, Rights and Discourse: The Legal Philosophy of Robe rt Alexy, Ordegon 2007, p. 39; https://books.google.ch/books?id=w- XbBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 9 & 1pg=PA3 9 &dq=Kelsen+anything+can+be+the+content+of+ law&source=bl&ots=ESR7UuYJNF&sig= jMuYvfEWpDukseNcnQiP6Dy1w&hl=de& s a=X&ved=OahUKEwj U3 f TJpcj MAhXmAMAKHa4AApo Q 6AEINDAD#v=onepage&q =Kelsen%20anything%20can%20be%20the%20content%20of%201aw&false, date of access: 1 August 2017.
45 Von Senger natural law conception of the word "democracy". I want here to point to some UN documents 1) A general UN statement
International Covenant on C ivil and Political Rights
Adopted and opened for signature, ratification and accession by General Assembly resolution 2200A (XXI) of 16 December 1966 entry into force 23 March 1976, in accordance with Article 49
Article 1 1. All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
2) A more concrete UN statement 17
A/RES/48/124 85th plenary meeting 20 December 1993
17 General Assembly A/RES/48/124 85` h plenary meeting 20 December 1993 http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r124.htm, United Nations,. General Assembly Distr. General A/RES/48/124 http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/48/124 date of access: 6 August 2017.
46 Democracy as Word and Concept
Respect for the principles of national sovereignty and non- interference in the internal affairs of States in their electoral processes The General Assembly 1...] Recognizing also that there is no single political system or single model for electoral processes equally suited to all nations and their peoples, and that political systems and electoral processes are subject to historical, political, cultural and religious factors E... ] Recorded vote:
47 Von Senger
General Assembly resolution 48/124 20 December 1993 Meeting 85 10151-17 (recorded vote) Approved by Third Committee 4A.148î632/Add.2i by recorded vote iB6-52 181, 6 December (meeting 521; 10-nation draft ikt.3; 48.1.44). orally cor rected; agenda item 114 fb.
Scrs.' China, Cuba, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Gambia. Lao People's Democratic Republic, Namibia, Sudan. United Republic of Tan ranîa, Viet Nam, Zimbabwe. Meeting numbers. GA 48th session: 3rd Committee 36.52; plenary 85 Recorded vote in Assembly as follows: in fir; Afghanistan. Algeria, .Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas. Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Bhutan. Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon. Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Colombia, Comoros, Congo. Côte d'ivoire Cubs, Cyprus, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt Ethiopia, Gabon, Gam- bia. Ghana, Grenada. Guatemala, Guinea, Gulnea.Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan. Kenya, Kuwait Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libyan Arab Jame- hiriya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mex- ico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal. Niger, Nigeria. Oman, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Paru. Qatar, Rwanda, Saint Lucia. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slerre Leone), Singapore, Sri Lanka. Sudan, Suriname. Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic., Thailand. the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Togo. Trinidad and Tobago. Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emiratss, United Repub• liic of Tanzania, Venezuela, Viet Nam. men. Zaire, Zimbabwe. Again,st Albania. Argentina, Armenia, Australia. Austria, Azerbaijan. Be- lama, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark. Es- tonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall Islands„ Monaco, Netherlands. New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Roma- nia, Russian Federation„ San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, 1Urkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom. United States. Abstaining: Salim Bolivia. Chile. Costa Rica. El Salvador, Ail, Georgia, Jamaica, Mauritius,, Micronesia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Philippine„ Solo- mon Islands, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Zambia.
48 Democracy as Word and Concept
3) Two 21 st century statements of the United Nations on democracy
Strengthening of popular participation, equity, social justice and non-discrimination as essential foundations of democracy
Human Rights Resolution 2005/2981
The Commission on Human Rights, 3. also reaffirms that while all democracies share common features, there is no one model of democracy; therefore we must not seek to export any particular model of democracy;
56th meeting , 19 April 2005
Recorded vote 19:
18 Human rights documents http://ap.ohchr.org/documents/alldocs.aspx ?doc id=11100; office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. [...] Human Rights Resolution 2005/29 http://www.refworld.org/docid/45377c470.html, Date of access: 6 August 2017.
19 United Nations E(CH.4/2005/SR.56. Economic and Social Council. Distr.: General 20 February 2012 English
49 Von Senger
Draft resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.42 was adopted by 28 votes to 14, with 11 abstentions. In favour: Bhutan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, South Africa, Lanka, Sudan, Swaziland, Togo, Zimbabwe. Against: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Republic of Korea, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States. Abstaining: Argentina, Armenia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Saudi Arabia.
The results of the two votes show that Western countries do not agree with the nominalistic and positivist UN conception of democracy!
In this context, the Human Rights Council Resolution 19/36 "Human rights, democracy and the rule of law", of 23 March http://repository. un.org/bitstream/handle/11176/258820/E CN.4 2005 SR.56- EN.pdf?sequence=1 &isAllowed=y
50 Democracy as Word and Concept
201220, should be mentioned. In this resolution, introduced by Romania21 , the Human Rights Council on the one hand reaffirms that, while democracies share common features, there is no single model of democracy and that democracy does not belong to any country or region, and reaffirming also the necessity of due respect for sovereignty and the right to self-determination, on the other hand, it stresses that democracy includes [...] the right [...] to vote in a pluralistic system of political parties and organizations and to be elected at genuine, periodic, free and fair elections by universal and equal suffrage and by secret ballot guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the people, as well as respect for the rule of law, the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary, transparency and accountability in public administration and decision-making and free, independent and pluralistic media [...] and emphasizes the crucial role played by the political
20 Human Rights Council. Nineteenth session. Agenda item 3. Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council, http://ap.ohchr.org/documents /dpage e.aspx?si=A/HRC/RES/19/32 and https://documents-dds- ny.un.org/doc/RESOLUTION/GEN/G12/131/17/PDF/G 1213117.pdf?OpenElement, date of access: 8 August 2017. 21 Council adopts 16 texts on technical assistance to Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Haiti, Yemen, Guinea and Libya. Human Rights Council AFTERNOON 23 March 2012, http://newsarchive.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12010 &LangID=E, date of access: 8 August 2017.
51 Von Senger opposition and civil society in the proper functioning of a democracy [...1.
Recorded vote22 The resolution was adopted by a recorded vote of 43 to 0, with 2 abstentions. The voting was as follows: In favour: Angola, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Congo, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, United States of America, Uruguay Abstaining: China, Cuba The representant of China said about this resolution:
22 Human Rights Council. Nineteenth session. Agenda item 3. Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development Resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council (supra footnote 22)
52 Democracy as Word and Concept
"China, speaking in an explanation of the vote before the vote, attached impo rtance to the development of democracy and the rule of law. China would steadfastly develop social democracy and improve democracy. China would demonstrate the beauty of a socialist system based on the rule of law. Democracy was not based on a single model. China was against imposing one single model for democracy on all others. The Human Rights Council was not the appropriate forum for deliberation on democracy and the rule of law. A significant pa rt of the draft went beyond the mandate of the Council. China would abstain from the vote."23 If we take world opinion seriously which is probably embodied more by the United Nations than by some Weste rn countries which declare themselves to be the representatives of universal values, than it seems that the nominalist or legal positivist approach is appropriate with respect to the word and concept of "democracy" on a global level. Democracy seems to be first and foremost just a word without content. Each country is allowed to fill this word with the content it considers suitable according to its cultural and
23 Council adopts 16 texts on technical assistance to Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Haiti, Yemen, Guinea and Libya Human Rights Council AFTERNOON 23 March 2012 (supra footnote 23).
53 Von Senger historical and economic situation. Whether "democracy" is practiced in a country or not, cannot be judged on the basis of any eternal quasi-Platonic idea. Only the statement that China is not a democracy in the current weste rn bourgeois liberal understanding of the word "democracy" is a correct statement. But a general statement that China is not a democracy at all is not correct according to the world opinion embodied by the United Nations. In the 21st century one should accept the obvious fact that there are different "concepts" of democracy, that there are different understandings of "democracy", which on a global scale are in competition with each other. From a Swiss perspective, is a non- direct democracy a "true" democracy? Or is only a direct democracy a genuine democracy? Such a question should not be raised according to the UN, at least not by politicians. Each country may decide which democracy for its country is a "true" democracy. The question which concept of democracy is finally the "right" one, will probably not be answered at the level of ideological debates - be it between nominalism and realism, be it between legal positivism and natural law -, but ultimately will be based on the practical results and effects of the different concepts of democracy. Unfortunately probably also power politics are likely to play a role.
54 Democracy as Word and Concept
At the end of my presentation, I want to mention some critic raised
in the People's Republic of China against the West with regard to
its concept of "democracy", and I quote also some Western
criticism.
Criticism 1: Disregard for the United Nations
Time and again, official statements of the PRC emphasize in line
with UN resolutions (see above) that Western countries should not
seek to export their particular model of democracy and that there is
no one standard for democracy. But when a Chinese states for
instance that "both the market and democracy are products of
human civilizations and can be adapted by all countries according
to their respective local conditions" 24, then Western people think
that this is a typically Chinese cultural relativistic point of view.
Because of their ignorance of UN documents, Western people in
general do not recognize that such statements are nothing else than
repetitions of UN points of view.
Quotations:
14...]1 - 11-m , ii--[...]4e4ti eon$44-12g4-
A A,Alt-^4i4. i4- -4- , VA, T -412-W4 trit_t ^^it
24 ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 85. Zhang Weiwei Re*Y is Professor at the School for Inte rnational Relations & Public Affairs, Center for China Development Model Research, Fudan University, Shanghai.
55 Von Senger
, - fl (4 Ai 7s- fo Quoted from: ZHANG
Weiwei: Zhongguo Zhenhan —. Yige „ Wenmingxing
Guojia de Jueqi" Ill - FIA )F1-1 "(The China-Shock The Raise of a Civilizational State). Shanghai 2010, p. 125.
Translation: "In the course of time, the West has [...] raised its own political and economic system and [its] discourse to an absolute level, a new kind of obscurantism and absolutism evolved, and was spread with full effo rt to the non-Western world."
2 "[...] the West seems to be rather complacent. Some in the West still believe that their system represents the end of history, but complacence leads to decline." Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 135.
3 "Some people think that the Western model represents the supreme ideal of mankind [...]." "Democracy is a universal value, but the Western democratic system is not." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 47, 118.
56 Democracy as Word and Concept
4 "[...] global changes in the 1990s lent Western governments a sense of pride and prejudice that prompted them to assume they were always right and superior to other governments. Hence, the simplistic criterion that political development, wherever it takes place, can be acceptable only if it is based on the Western democracy model, as seen in the `color revolutions' that took place in the former Eastern Bloc countries and the "jasmine revolutions"in the Middle East." Ed Zhang: Western form of democracy not a universal choice. In: China Daily, Beijing. Updated: 2014-08-16, http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2014- 08/16/content18354946.htm, date of access: 1 August 2017.
5 "Western civilization has its strengths, but also its weaknesses. Their greatest weakness is probably their tendency to self-love. It lacks a bit the Chinese concept of the "harmonious middle way". Some Westerners really believe that the history of mankind will end with the western model [and] that the West will absolutely dominate the future of the world." Translated from Zhang Weiwei: Zhongguo Zhenhan —. Yige „ Wenmingxing Guojia de
57 Von Senger
Jueqi" gP,-,t. "(The China-
Shock The Raise of a Civilizational State). Shanghai
2010, p. 124
6 "[...] culture matters a lot. [... ] In our effort to develop
modern political systems in East Asia, due recognition
must be given [...] to the need to ground these system's in
Asia's specific cultural conditions". Quoted from ZHANG
Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State,
Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 149.
7
«A=' , I-Ih" 3t4 iti *-0.14.
*+Q *A A Of , . T4-0 - *14.
*Fil A.44 o *151#&041- 4.5C1 . i ^ 0 f} Al ?- 1 ;114. 1 ft _t L » YAN
Xiaofeng â, 4- (AA Ed.) : Huaqing „Si ge Zhongda
Jiexian" Fudao Duben ((1114"W+t ß.4i 1"-4)) (Instructional Reading for the clear Delineation of "Four Big Dividing lines") , Beijing 2010, p. 137 Translation: "In today's world, due to the inequalities in the historical and cultural traditions and the current national conditions of each country, democratic systems, each of
58 Democracy as Word and Concept which has its particularity, emerged. The socialist democracy with Chinese characteristics and the Western bourgeois democracy are two democratic systems of different nature." 8 "The political tradition of a nation has its own internal logic and nation should evolve along its own internal logic rather than pursuing political romanticism which could be extremely costly for a super-large country like China. In fact, even a country like Britain which has a much shorter history than China, has all along adhered to its own political traditions and never accepted the French type of democracy [...]". ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 68.
9 "If there is any chance to resolve or at least mitigate the impact of some global challenges, [ ... ] one [ ... ] only [..."build on [...] respecting the political and cultural diversity of this troubled world." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack 2012, p.137.. 10 "The political tradition of a nation has its own internal logic and nation should evolve along its own internal logic rather than pursuing political romanticism which could be
59 Von Senger
extremely costly for a super-large country like China. In fact, even a country like Britain which has a much shorter history than China, has all along adhered to its own political traditions and never accepted the French type of democracy [...]". ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 68.
Criticism 2: Pseudo-Universalism 11 "Many forms of government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Quoted from: Winston Churchill, speech, House of Commons, November 11, 1947. In: Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897-1963, ed. Robert Rhodes James, vol. 7, p. 7566 (1974). 12 "As for Churchill's remark about democracy, I checked the contexr of his remark and found that he made it in a Westminster debate in 1947, and he was clearly referring to the Western democracy as practiced in the West. Winston Churchill himself was firmly opposed to India's independence. How could he be expected to suppo rt India's
60 Democracy as Word and Concept
adoption of Western democracy?" ZHANG Weiwei: The
China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack
2012, p.170
It could be added that Great Britain never introduced "the the
worst form of Government except all those other forms that have
been tried from time to time" into Hong Kong during its control
over Hong Kong 1842 - 1997. This seems to confirm Zhang
Weiwei's opinion that Churchill's praise for democracy was only
limited to its application in Western countries.
Criticism 3: Money counts, not the people.
In Chinese textbooks for compulsory education in ideology and
politics, Western democracies are called "pseudo-democracies".
The true power is said not to be in the hands of the people but of
the capitalist class and the banks of the countries concerned, as for
instance in the United States. ✓ ' 4'l 14 " t.z i 7`" I * , T ". Zhang
Weiwei: Zhongguo moshi yu xifang moshi
1 Q,-4i T^ (The Chinese model and the
Western model). In: Qiushi Zazhi 4 (Seeking the
Truth Magazine), Beijing 2012, No. 16, p. 64.
61 Von Senger
Translation: "In many Western countries, the "rule of the people" turned into `the rule of the money'." 15 "[...] X Q LLtit5 ... 41n A 4t [ ...]" Translation: "[ ...] American democracy is completely manipulated by money) [ ...]." Quoted from: TIAN Wenlin il1t F*: Xi shi minzhu weihe rijian shilling At 4- h4 T I . (Why is Western style democracy increasingly getting worse?). Editorial in: Renmin Ribao Haiwaiban (People's Daily Overseas Edition), 28 May 2014, p. 1, http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2014- 05/28/content 1433971.htm, date of access: 1 August 2017.
16 "Western governments believe their model of democracy is the only one that can work, although in reality it is suited primarily to serve the interests of capital, and cannot be said to represent universal value. [...] The basic form of Western democracy, one that runs on a system of open and competitive election, is not immune to undemocratic influences, most noticeably the influence of money [ ... ] ."
62 Democracy as Word and Concept
Quoted from: Western form of democracy not a universal
choice, By Ed Zhang. In: China Daily, Beijing) Updated: 2014-08-16, http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2014-
08/16/content 18354946.htm, date of access: 1 August
2017.
17„^-4_t5C4}-k ^`Jl_b ^It* *iZ^ WO* , 41^
fa^,a4A * #L4 !, A ,i3i,A ^ o
07 AAA** 1.-ikk ^ 44-t0 vLi. , ^c^, ti; ^ARI-
3, , A, o " XU Kaiyi 3t: Shiling de xi shi
minzhu &-10 07 44 A, i . (The failure of Western style democracy), in: Guangming Ribao (Enlightenment Daily),
Beijing 3 March 2017, p. 11,
http://sun.njnu.edu.cn/space/2017-3/220536_374984.html,
date of access: 1 August 2017
Translation: The capital is the dominant force in capitalist
societies. Not only the economic field, but also the social
and political fields have to obey the logic of the capital and
are controlled by money. Western-style democracy is
essentially a democracy under the influence of the capital;
politicians, political parties and governments are prisoners
63 Von Senger
of the capital; elections which are regarded as the core element of Weste rn-style democracy are [ ... ] reduced to games in which the spending of money is the issue. See also Western commentaries: 18 [Jane Mayer's book] Dark Money [The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, Random House LLC, New York 2016] argues that the Koch brothers and a small number of allied plutocrats have essentially hijacked American democracy". Ehrenhalt, Alan :The Agents of Rightward Change. in: International New York Times, January 23-24, 2016, https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1 P2-39214119/the- agents-of-rightward-change, date of access: 1 August 2017. 19„Wie zwei superreiche Familien die amerikanische Politik fernsteuern — beim Klima, bei den Steuern und bei der Krankenversicherung [...] [...] Eine schwerreiche Clique hat sich des Staates bemächtigt [...]”. Kerstin Kohlenberg:....es regiert, in: Die Zeit, 8 June 2017, p. 3. Translation: How two extremely rich families direct American politics --- with respect to climate, taxations and health insurance [ ... ] A very rich clique has taken possession of the state
64 Democracy as Word and Concept
20 Markus Feldenkirchen: Vereinige Oligarchen von Amerika. Essay: Milliardäre bestimmen nicht nur die Wirtschaft, sondern auch die Politik der USA. In: Der Spiegel, 29.8.2015, http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d- 138379369.html, date of access: 1 August 2017. Translation: United Oligarchs of America Essay Billionaires direct not only the economy but also the US policy. 21 "If American democracy is still powerless in checking the overwhelming power of capital, the US may well encounter new crisis in the years to come." Quoted from: ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack 2012, p.118. 22 "2010 [...] hat das höchste US-Gericht die Grenzen für politische Spenden aufgehoben. Seitdem können Unternehmen, Organisationen und Personen unbegrenzt Geld für politische Zwecke ausgeben, solange es nicht direkt an politische Parteien oder Kandidaten fliesst ". Thorsten Denkler: „Die rechte Passion einer steinreichen Familie. Robert Mercer und seine Tochter finanzieren die ,Trump-Revolution' [The right-wing passion of a vastly rich American family. Robert Mercer and his daughter
65 Von Senger
finance the `Trump Revolution']". In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 21 August 2017, p. 2. Translation: "[In the year] 2010 [...] the highest US cou rt has lifted the boundaries for political donations. Since then, companies, organizations, and individuals can spend unlimited money on political issues as long as it does not flow directly to political parties or candidates."
Criticism 4: Formalism, no concern for substantial progress Quotations: " 4 " 23"0/ Q *[...] * — A— ; 0
*A- -It 0 A j- , * t —+â A-14_ ." Quoted from Zhang Weiwei: Zhongguo Zhenhan —. Yige „ Wenmingxing guojia' de jueqi" iti Q —t-"X FA t In iINa "(The China-Shock The Raise of a Civilizational State). Shanghai 2010, p. 137 f. Translation: "[In the eyes of] Western states [...] only a "procedural democracy" with a multi-party system and [with the system] one man one vote represents a true democracy and provides legitimacy to a regime." 24 "Mere procedural legitimacy is almost comparable to a student registering himself for his class but never bothering
66 Democracy as Word and Concept to perform." Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 122. 25 "Excessive legalism tends to place undue emphasis on procedural correctness, which [...] leads to long delays and years of backlogs." Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 133. 26 [...] From the Chinese point of view, the nature of a state, including its legitimacy, has to be defined more by its substance, i.e. good governance, than by its procedures" Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 131. 27 "Today, approximately half of the world's population still lives in poverty. The Western model has failed to solve the basic problems of people's livelihood in the developing world, and so much manpowers and financial resources have been diverted by self-serving politicians who in the name of promoting `democratization' engage themselves in power rivalry, which more often than not ends in constant chaos with `elephants fighting each other while the grass suffers', i.e. politicians fighting each other for their own interest while ordinary people suffer." Quoted from
67 Von Senger
ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 96. 28 "China's Republican Revolution of 1911 [...] copied the Western political model and the whole country immediately fell into chaos and disintegration, with warlords, each supported by one or a few foreign powers, fighting each other for their own interests, and this is a lesson that we should always bear in mind". Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 60. 29 "The relative success of China since 1978 shows that whatever the political system, it must in the end boil down to good governance. In other words, the ultimate test of a good political system is to what extent it can ensure good governance. The stereotyped dichotomy of democracy vs. autocracy sounds increasingly hollow in today's complex world, given the large numbers of poorly governed `democracies'. Chin's idea may eventually shape a paradigm shift from the dichotomy of democracy vs. autocracy to that of good governance vs. bad governance. Good governance" may take the form of the Western political system, as in the case of perhaps Switzerland, or in the form of a non-Western political system as in the case of
68 Democracy as Word and Concept
Singapore and Hong Kong. [...]. Likewise, bad governance may take the form of the Western political system as in the case of Haiti, Iraq, the Philippines, Congo and Greece, and it may also take the form of a non-Weste rn political systems as in the case of Myanmar. [...] the nature of a state, including its legitimacy, has to be defined more by its substance, i.e. good governance, than by its procedures. China emphasizes substance over procedures, believing that ultimately the right substance will evolve into the right procedures, appropriate to each nation's own conditions, just as the West believes in the reverse. Good governance should be an objective of all governments in the world, and the developing world is faced with mounting challenge of political reform in order to achieve good governance. The same is true for the developed world." Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 131, and partly translated from: ZHANG Weiwei: Zhongguo Zhenhan Yige „ Wenmingxing Guojia de Jueqi "j4 — t"SC E9J c iJ [Et' "(The China-Shock --The Raise of a `Civilizational State). Shanghai 2010, p. 134.
69 Von Senger
30 "[...] the ultimate test of a good political system is whether it can deliver good governance and a higher level of satisfaction for its people. As I have said earlier, good governance can take the form of the Weste rn political system or non-Weste rn political system, and bad governance can also take the form of the Western political system oder non-Western political system. Each nation should explore its own political system appropriate to its conditions with he aim of achieving good governance". Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 149. 31 "In the world, there are still about three billion people who are severely afflicted by war, naked poverty, hunger, and a lack of basic consumer goods. Developing countries that have adopted the Western political system are largely unable to solve this fundamental question of living standards." [...] "What matters is not that an 'autocracy' is more efficient than a 'democracy', but that 'good governance' is more efficient than 'bad governance'. [ ... ] no matter which political system it is, after all it should implement "good governance", then it is all right. Quoted from ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 131, and
70 Democracy as Word and Concept from ZHANG Weiwei: Zhongguo Zhenhan —. Yige
„ Wenmin xing Guojia de Jueqi" 11=1 111 'E N —1' a^ ^^ E
^c n il-S ^ "(The China-Shock The Raise of a Civilizational State). Shanghai 2010, p. 129.
32 "[...] Western powers show little concern, if any at all, for the economic and social well-being of the allegedly newly democratic countries. In most cases, [...] poverty and unemployment have persisted in these countries, and pushed them into greater chaos making people's lives more insecure." Quoted from: Western form of democracy not a universal choice, By Ed Zhang. In: China Daily, Beijing. Updated: 2014-08-16, hap ://europe. chinadaily. corn. cn/opinion/2014- 08/16/content_18354946.htm, date of access: 1 August
2017.
33 " [...J die liberale und marktwirtschaftlich orientierte Demokratie bringt nicht automatisch auch Wohlstand." Quoted from; Felix E. Müller: Die Krise stellt auch die Demokratie in Frage, in: NZZ am Sonntag, Zürich 29.January 2012, p. 17
71 Von Senger
Translation: "[...] the liberal and market-oriented democracy does not automatically bring prosperity [ ... ]" Western voices:
34 "[...] democratic government doesn't on its own mean effective government. Today efficacy is the challenge". Tony Blair, quoted in: Egyptian army had no choice over move to topple Morsi, says Tony Blair. Alte rnative to military intervention was a country in chaos, says former prime minister." In: The Guardian, 6 July 2013.25 35 "Die Frage muss lauten: Finden Sie Demokratie oder Effektivität wichtiger? Mich erstaunt, wie viele, vor allem jüngere Menschen sich in Umfragen auf die Seite der Effektivität stellen. Die neue Generation ist technokratisch aufgeschlossen, sie sehnt sich sehr nach besseren Regierungen". Statement of Parag Khanna, author of the book „Jenseits von Demokratie [Beyond Democracy]", gdi [= Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut], Rüschlikon/Zürich 201726, quoted from: "Freiheit ist nicht alles ". Der Politologe Parag Khanna sagt, die Demokratie, wie sie die USA lebe, sei ein
25 The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/07/egypt-army-morsi- tony-blair 26 GDI. Jenseits von Demokratie, http://www.gdi.ch/de/Think-Tank/Studien/Jenseits-von- Demokratie/778: Date of Access: 10 September 2017.
72 Democracy as Word and Concept
Auslaufmodell. Die Zukunft gehöre der ,direkten Technokratie, einer Mischung aus den Systemen Schweiz and Singapur ["Freedom is not everything". The political scientist Parag Khanna says democracy, like in the US, is an end-of-life model. The future belongs to the `direct technocracy', a mixture of the systems Switzerland and Singapore]", in: Tages-Anzeiger, Zürich 10 June 2017, p. 37 Translation: „The question must be: Do you find democracy or effectiveness more impo rtant? I am amazed at how many, especially younger people, are looking to the side of effectiveness in surveys. The new generation is technocratically open-minded; it longs for better governments." Criticism 5: Short-sightedness 36 "0 25- A44-.1 x114 0—÷l?kA c k VAIRAPI X. igi *izz 4 A40A.t. 4 , t A
z-1k1 0 0 , 6tA tiv-%iLO Mk. " ZHANG Weiwei: Zhongguo Zhenhan --. Yige „ Wenmingxing
73 Von Senger
Guojia de Juegi " —/"x HA t. * 1143 glE
"(The China-Shock The Raise of a Civilizational State).
Shanghai 2010, p. 131.
Translation: "A major challenge faced by the Western
democracies is the problem of short-sighted politicians.
Western politicians are often concerned only with the
short-term interests of a part of the voters, while ignoring
the holistic interests of the population and the world. They
often only take care of their own ballots and issues within
their term of office, while ignoring longer-term problems."
37iß -$'10117XRTyt)3h-÷z. [...]A
-kt:*_i^%&A 0 A VI o tk& .; RA-,ii 0 AA- X 4-412-1-k- ,
4-fiC T 4=4-ilitqatiXt 4.1. lk -ti.-÷4143^t,o Zhang Weiwei:
Xifang zoushuai de zhidu yuanyin fOlth : oiTJ ^ ik-.0 *I AA R (Zhang Weiwei: The
reasons for the gradual decline of the Weste rn system). In :
74 Democracy as Word and Concept
Qiushi Zazhi*VI;` (Seeking the Truth Magazine),
Beijing 2012, No. 17, p. 64 f. 27
Translation: „The question of the Western system can be
summed up as five deficiencys [...] the fifth deficiency is
the lack of prudent and far-seeing planning and the lack of
systematic and comprehensive strategic thinking and
arrangements. This leads to a variety of short-sighted
policies flooding all areas of society."
A Western voice:
38 "Seit langem denken [...] Politikbeobachter darüber
nach, wie sich die `Verzerrung zugunsten des
Kurzfristigen' in Demokratien lindern liesse. [...] Die
direkte Demokratie in der Schweiz ermöglicht eher
nachhaltige Lösungen als Systeme in anderen Ländern [...,
z.B. bezüglich] Verschuldung, Arbeitslosigkeit und
Altersvorsorge [...] Doch auch die die direkte Demokratie
ist vor der ,Verzerrung zugunsten der Kurzfristigkeit` nicht
gefeit." Quotation from Hansueli Schöchli: Die Gegenwart
27 "1:1 Q *# t *f ^ I X c fi 31M l`J It 'ht" /1S J,!i (5 commentaries [as for instance] "The uniqueness of the political development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics "), http://www.gstheory.cn/zxdk/2012/201217/201208/120120825 177684.htm. Date of access: 11 september 2017.
75 Von S enger
schreit lauter als die Zukun ft. Bei Entscheiden mit sehr langfristigen Folgen stösst sogar die direkte Demokratie an ihre Grenzen [The present shouts louder than the future. In the case of decisions with very long-term consequences, even direct democracy reaches its limits]. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 9 September 2017, p. 29. Translation: Since long time, [...] policy-makers have been thinking about how the "distortion in favor of the sho rt -term [decision making]" could be alleviated in democracies. [...] The direct democracy in Switzerland allows for sustainable solutions rather than systems in other countries [..., e.g. with respect to] debt, unemployment and old-age provision [...]. But also the direct democracy is not immune to the 'distortion in favor of the short-term [decision making]'. " Criticism 6 Western democratization can lead to ethnic clashes and the clash of rival particular interests 39 "A key reason for the failures of Western style democratization in developing countries is democratization for the sake of democratization and political reform for the sake of political reform, often in terms dictated by the West. This has, not infrequently, resulted in endless domestic political wrangling, ethnic and religious clashes
76 Democracy as Word and Concept and even wars, rather than better lives for the people. [ ... ] Western style democratization often means voting along religious and ethnic lines in non-Western countries, leading, not infrequently, to chaos and even civil wars." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack 2012, p.116, 123. 4/ FO t *-4>>_. ,* nA *PI 4* , I1 Ala *. it t'O* 4- * * F4ß* 17 clt,4qAIll l7 0 *fL. ZHANG Weiwei aC*3 : "Zhongguo zhi zhi" tuxian zhidu youshi ri2 Q -Zig 8 • -'] felt (China's governance highlights the advantages of the [Chinese political] system). In: Renmin Ribao Haiwaiban JLI4 El 4vt.$oiqk , Beijing 21 August 2017, p. 1 Translation: "Western political parties represent particular interests. Different political parties represent the interests of different groups, so the national policies are often wavering being the victim of the antagonism between different political parties and interest groups." 40 "Politischer Krieg zwischen Volksgruppen. Bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen in Kenya geht es nicht um Inhalte —
77 Von Senger
entscheidend ist die ethnische Zugehörigkeit." In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 5 August 2017-09-06 Translation: „Political war between ethnic groups. The presidential elections in Kenya are not about content - the key is ethnicity". 41 "Manchmal sind Wahlen Gift für die Demokratie. Im subsaharischen Afrika gibt es zwar immer mehr Urnengänge, aber nicht selten werden Konflikte dadurch verschärft statt gelöst ". In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 24 August 2017, p. 9
Translation: „Sometimes elections are poison for democracy. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are more and more elections, but conflicts are often intensified instead of solved."
"The Chinese way"
42 "Through examining facts, Beijing found that neither the Soviet communist model nor the Western liberal democratic model has really worked for a developing country in terms of achieving genuine modernization, and it was thus determined to explore its own paht of
78 Democracy as Word and Concept development. It eventually succeded in finding its own path, which is by no means perfect, but has allowed China to achieve far greater successes than most other countries over the past three decades." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack 2012, p.126. 43 "China's political reforms are essentially attempts at political rationalization, not Weste rn-style democratization, aimed at facilitating rapid economic and social development and improving the efficiency of the exist8ing political system and people's living standards. In contrast to the radical model of democratization, which involves an uncompromising break with the past, Chinese reformers have carried out those `lesse political reforms' by working through existing political institutions [...] The transformation of the Chinese state will continue, driven by China's economic reform, social change and integration with the outside world. But China's political transition is likely to continue its present cautious approach and its top- down and gradual process." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 113 f.
79 Von Senger
44 "[...] it is simply unimaginable that most Chinese will ever accept a change of central government every four or five years as practiced in the so-called modern multi-party democracy in the West." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational State, Hackensack N.Y.
2012, p. 132.
45 * Q —+AA-A-A *411 A$01 i. [...]
it h —÷^i A- 13 IZ J^ 'a . AVM. PI, V&A *}=1^"r0
p *, ta1 ^ VI T i*0 41- - 1^^ o it^^--1- rt?QitA.
A C 0 O*41741-A , VAL T A- 12 RI =i-t& 0 4-1-k- i-5C-WA.
ZHANG Weiwei aCgth: "Zhongguo zhi zhi" tuxian zhidu youshi ' 14 ziâ 8 _K J AA* (China's governance highlights the advantages of the [Chinese political] system). In: Renmin Ribao Haiwaiban )J, EI 4i4-*)t ,
Beijing 21 August 2017, p. 1 28 Translation: China has a political force [e.g. the Chinese Communist Party] that represents the interests of the people as a whole. As a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, a vast territory and a not yet balanced
28 Online;: http://theory.people.com.cn/n1/2017/0821/c40531-29482419.html, date of access: 11 September 2017.
80 Democracy as Word and Concept
development, China has achieved a unprecedented social
stability. Thanks to its own exploration and practice, China
has developed a socialist system with Chinese
characteristics.
46 "China emphasizes substance over procedures,
appropriate to each nation's own conditions, just as the
West believes in the reverse. Good governance should be
the an objective of all governments of the world, and the
developing world is faced with the mounting challenge of
political reform in order to achive good government. The
same is true for the developed world." Quoted from
ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise of a Civilizational
State, Hackensack N.Y. 2012, p. 131.
47 t 1 **I 30 — t T Agt ,
giO *4*-xlg*, 4/14-A, —14-$4 ^
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Zhang Weiwei: Xifang zoushuai de zhidu yuanyin
: *- -.0 .1 to. (Zhang Weiwei: The
81 Von Senger
reasons of the gradual decline of the Western system). In : Qiushi Zazhi -4-,- g (Seeking the Truth Magazine),
Beijing 2012, No. 17, p. 64 f. 29 Translation: "Since more than 30 years, China's system has constantly carried through self-reform and adjustment, resulting in a whole set of institutional arrangements based on comprehensive thinking, overall consideration and long- term planning. This advantageous momentum is well mirrored by the system and implementation of the five-year plans in China, and the success of China over the past 30 years is largely the result of successful implementation of these strategic plans." 47 "In China, we make a national development plan every five years. This is the cristallization of tens of thousands of rounds of discussions and consultations at all levels of the Chinese state and society. In my opinion, this is the real democratic decision-making process, and it ensures quality in decision making. The gap between the West and China
29 ", Q=t i xafn4'rt" 59,11,1 (5 commentaries [as for instance] "The uniqueness of the political development path of socialism with Chinese characteristics ") ,http ://www.qstheory.cn/zxdk/2012/201217/201208/t20120825 177684.htm. Date of access: 11 september 2017.
82 Democracy as Word and Concept in this regard is, to be frank, huge — to my mind. China is perhaps at the `graduate' level, and the West perhaps in the `undergraduate' or even `high school' level, if this analogy fits." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack 2012, p.158. 48 "As a country with a population four times larger than the US and more than the total population of the West, China's experiments and success in its political reform may eventually mark a paradigm shift and redefine what constitutes democracy and good governance. China's experimentation in this regard is bound to have lasting global implications." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack 2012, p.116. 49 "As the world struggles to tackle the multiplying challenges, mankind needs new ideas beyond those of the West {... ] Many things in the world can be done in a different way from the Western approach. [...] The Chinese ideas, especially those well tested [...] may [...] enrich mankind's collective wisdom in how to better tackle the multiplying global challenges." ZHANG Weiwei: The China Wave. Rise Of A Civilizational State, Hackensack 2012, p.137 f.
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