Democracy Through the Lens of Chinese Scholars

The Battle of Ideas

The first English-language study of Chinese scholars' perspectives on China's quest for democracy.

History teaches us that profound transformations are not shaped by ideas alone but are impossible without great ideas. China is known to have a long history during which scholars played a central role in society while their ideas about politics prevailed. Democracy Through the Lens of Chinese Scholars explores six leading schools of thought—including liberalism, New Leftism, neo-Confucianism, democratic socialism, neo-authoritarianism, and good governance—on how to turn China into a democracy. Based on a wealth of primary sources and interview data, author He Li examines the Chinese theoretical debates on democracy from both historical and comparative perspectives. He demonstrates that the crux to understanding China's long march toward democracy lies in appreciating the interrelatedness and interplay of major strands of thought and brings rigor and insight to our understanding of China's leading school of political thought, shedding new light on non-Western political thought in general and comparative democratic theory in particular. Last but not least, the arguments here are a part of global efforts to rethink capitalism and democracy while focusing on liberty, justice, and the rule of law.

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