Ci Jiwei (University of Hong Kong)
Abstract: Some may balk at the idea of discussing democracy in China as a matter of reality rather than project or critique. But if we follow Tocqueville and think of democracy as a matter not only of the political system but more importantly also of the general condition of a society, then examining the partial reality of democracy in China, not least the partialness itself, is entirely appropriate and may indeed be illuminating. All the more will this be true if we also follow Tocqueville in treating the great influence of public opinion as yet another defining feature of democracy. Taking some cues from Tocqueville as a point of departure, I will proceed to examine democracy in China at the social, economic, ideological, and political levels. I will pay special attention to the contradictions in the partial reality of democracy in China in order to show both the dynamic toward greater democracy and the challenge of orderly democratic progress.
This is the third of five lectures that Professor Ci Jiwei will give in the series Democracy and China: Philosophical-Political Reflections
Sponsored by the Harvard Government Political Theory Colloquium