Money or Trust: Prospects of Democratization in China
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With the prevailing norm of compliance with the orthodox sociopolitical hierarchies and the feeble influence of civic virtues generated by the relatively weak civil society in traditional China, one can understand why there have not been sufficient social and ideological forces to break away from the deeprooted chains of authoritarian regimes; none of the attempts to introduce democratic liberalization to China have succeeded since the First Opium War in the 1840s . For example, industrialization for the “self-strengthening” movement from 1861-1894 failed to consolidate the Qing dynasty’s power by introducing Western technology, as did “The Hundred Days of Reform,” which fought to establish a constitutional monarchy in 1898. Among all the attempts, the fiasco of the Chinese Republic established in 1911 is probably the most miserable, for it caused much disillusionment by revealing the failure to establish a civil society, at the time was able to sustain a functional democracy, Even though civil society is unlikely to be the sole requirement for democratization, it is rather clear that some measure of civil society, such as the social bases for pluralism and state-society separation, is necessary for effective democracy. By understanding the development of the self-enhancing authoritarian nature of the Chinese state and the force of its consequent ideological propaganda in comparison to its weak civil society and civic virtues, it is less surprising that the reign of the CCP has shown few sign of democratic liberalization despite economic progress over the last thirty years. Civil society rooted in a nation’s history, and especially the civic virtues as a deriving ethics and source of social capital, not only matters but has greater endurance than modernization (Putnam 1993). Serving the ruler’s ideology: teachings of Confucius in political interpretation In order to find a more in-depth explanation for the cultural-philosophical formation and acceptance of the ruler’s ideology, as well as its implications for the potential of democracy in China, we must study Confucius’s teachings. Confucius (Kongzi) (551-479 B.C.) has had an enormous influence in shaping Chinese society for over two millennia. Both the theory and practice of Confucianism have indelibly marked the patterns of government, society, education, and family in China.12 In the political realm, Confucius’s teachings have been particularly influential. The teachings laid the ideological foundation for the hierarchical and patron-client political structure in China; in this sense, they provide a deep explanation for China’s relative indifference toward civic virtues. 12
Confucius’ teachings on going beyond rituals to cultivate a heart of kindness are not relevant here to the paper’s argument.