American Democracy and Democracy Promotion

As America inaugurates its 43rd president it enters a period of reflection. The danger is that an emphasis on voting procedure will silence a long-standing and ultimately more significant criticism of American democracy and its policy of democracy promotion. The separation of economics from politics and the promotion of so-called 'market democracy' does a disservice to the wider democratic project and is potentially self-defeating. This article reviews three books to argue that America's declining international reputation can be traced to its own democratic shortcomings. It explores the possibility of a popular working-class movement to address these failings and examines the implication this may have on the liberal international order.
Books reviewed:
John B. Judis, Paradox Of American Democracy: Elites, Special Interests And The Betrayal Of Public Trust
Michael Zweig, The working class majority: America's best kept secret
Ruy Teixeira and Joel Rogers, America's forgotten majority: why the white working class still matters     

Democracy and Disenchantment

The victory of democracy in its ideological battle with communism has coincided with widespread voter disaffection in established democracies and with the rapid emergence of disillusion in recently 'democratised' societies. These developments raise at least two more general problems concerning the democratic dream of a self-governing community. First, there is the problem of democratic deficit: the fact that democratic arrangements are invariably constrained by arrangements of a non-democratic kind. Second, there is the problem of corruption. While such problems arise for any form of politics they have a particular significance for regimes which claim to be democratic. Following the recent victories of democracy in much of the world, it is now more difficult to appeal to the remedy of a more inclusive political system. Those of you who come in with me now will get big pieces of pie. Those who come in with me later will get smaller pieces of pie. Those who dont come in at all will get-Good Government.1 (attributed to Huey Long, Governor of Louisiana)     

Democracy and Technology

Richard P. Hiskes, Democracy, Risk, and Community: Technological Harardr and the Evolution of Liberalism .
Sheila Jasanoff, Science at the Bar: Law, Science, and Technology in America .     

Democracy and Instrumentalism

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the demise of state socialism, among other factors, has led to a renewed interest in a certain conception of democracy as a fundamental organising principle for political debate and decision-making. Yet there are good reasons to suppose that the concept of democracy is severely limited in the role it can play here. This article examines some of these limits. In the first section we summarise a number of arguments from the 'revivalist' democratic literature and the conception of democracy presented within it. In doing so, we identify a conception of democracy-a conception we refer to generically as 'the democratic ideal'-that is defined both in relation to certain structural features and also in terms of a set of progressivist and socially ameliorative ends to which that ideal is seen as being especially conducive. In this reason our interest is not in any one version of the democratic idealalthough we do take many contemporary forms of the ideal in question to combine two central strands-as in the promotion of that ideal as instrumental in furthering certain economic and social ends. In the second section we call this ideal into question through a discussion of some of the problems associated with democratic forms of governance. We conclude with a discussion of the way in which the appeal to the democratic ideal in political debate and decision-making may actually depend on ignoring or suppressing the very politics that it aims to address.     

Political Globalisation and the Politics of International Non-governmental Organisations: The Case of Village Democracy in China

Although there is a body of research regarding the development of village self-governance in China, there is only limited research regarding the activity of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in relation to this development. The paper fills this gap through an analysis of the activities and effects of the village self-governance programs of three American-based NGOs: the International Republican Institute (IRI), the Carter Center and the Ford Foundation. These NGOs have assisted in the implementation of a number of reforms to village self-governance in China. NGO involvement in village democracy in China exemplifies a process of 'political globalisation' that involves the intermingling of layers of power and interests at the national and international levels. The paper concludes that, through this process of political globalisation, rural political reforms in China are both promoted and exploited by national and international political actors.     

科举与民治

1905年朝廷停科举,旨在为学堂让路,造就新学新知的人才.其时朝野的关注和认知都交集于此,又都止乎此.但由清末到民初,共和推倒了帝制,而与之俱来的则是民初的代议政治有民治之名而无民治之实,以及这种名实相悖造成政象的四面颠蹶直接促成另一种关注,使当时人不得不由古今中西之比探寻民治的本义.而后是已经停置的科举制度又被引来论说古今之政体,并因之移到了那代人的重新认知之中.于是有西方人说的"科举制乃与民主精神深相契合"和中国人说的科举制度"尤为民治".十多年之前深被非议的科举制度遂随后来的眼光之变而内涵大变,褒贬大变.借助于这种民初不同于清末的眼光和认知,一千三百多年间,科举制度以其自下而上的"怀牒自投"和自上而下的"以试为选"维持了一个文官政府的过程,便因之而由一千三百年间自下而上的社会流动和自上而下的政府开放,显示出前现代的选官制度里所内含的与现代"民主精神"可以对应的一面.     

Ethnicity,Secessionist Conflict and the International Society: Towards Normative Paradigm Shift

Abstract. This article addresses the challenge of ethnicity and particularly of secessionist conflict by trying to outline an international normative framework more conducive to conflict settlement. The working hypothesis is that accommodation through dialogue, in spite of its risks, offers the only way forward in situations of politicised ethnicity. The existing international nonnative regime (with its ban on secession and no opening for autonomy) is insufficient for managing and resolving such conflicts, while its revolutionary antipode, ‘national’ self-determination, is a frightening prospect. Three alternatives are explored: partial recasting with emphasis on devolution; a secessionist option for some federations; and secessionist self- determination for tormented minorities within well-defined criteria. The advantages as well as the drawbacks of unilateral (secessionist) self-detennination are explored in detail.     

“晚清国家与社会”国际学术讨论会述评

国家清史编纂工程的正式启动,给晚清史研究带来了难得的发展机遇。为加强晚清史学科建设,推进晚清史研究的深入和发展,国家清史编纂委员会、中国社会科学院近代史研究所、苏州大学社会学院、上海社会科学院历史研究所、上海师范大学社会史研究中心、中国太平天国史研究会和扬州大学社会发展学院等7家单位联合主办的“晚清国家与社会”国际学术讨论会于2006年8月25—27日在苏州大学举行。与会代表75人,来自海内外33家学术单位,提交论文62篇。会议取得的一个重要成果,就是对重视、加强和推进晚清史的学术研究和学科建设形成了共识,会议明确地…