Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

10-2009

Abstract

It is often remarked that East Asian polities have been hierarchical and the "elite" category continues to figure prominently in works on Chinese society and politics. Many scholars believe that hierarchy and elitism are deeply rooted in Confucianism, which served as the state orthodoxy in imperial China and provided the "psycho-cultural construct" of the way of life in other East Asian cultural communities as well. It is therefore not surprising that some should believe that if modern Confucian societies are to be democratic at all, elitism must be reconciled with democracy. In contrast, elitism is commonly a pejorative term in liberal democracies today, especially the United States, notwithstanding the portrayal of these polities by political scientists as cases of "democratic elitism." Presenting "democracy with Confucian characteristics" as elitism, therefore, highlights its challenge to liberal forms of democracy. Taking elitism seriously, Daniel A. Bell, in his Beyond Liberal Democracy: Political Thinking for an East Asian Context, offers us an institutional arrangement that combines what he sees as an elitist Confucian rule of virtue with a transparent and accountable democratic government that would check abuses of power.

Keywords

Confucian Democracy, New Confucianism, Constitutionalism

Discipline

Ethics and Political Philosophy

Research Areas

Humanities

Publication

Philosophy East and West

Volume

59

Issue

4

First Page

537

Last Page

553

ISSN

0031-8221

Identifier

10.1353/pew.0.0080

Publisher

University of Hawaii Press

Copyright Owner and License

Publisher

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.0.0080

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