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https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-020-00253-2
REVIEW
An unconventional butprudent proposal forChina’s
democratisation
Jiwei Ci: Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis. Harvard University
Press, Cambridge, MA, 2019, 420pp, ISBN: 978-0674238183
Yu‑WenChen1,2
© The Author(s) 2020
Democracy in China: The Coming Crisis is an unconventional book that argues that
China already has a democratic society without a democratic political reality, and,
hence, it is necessary for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to prepare itself for
democracy before it is too late. Written by Jiwei Ci, Professor of Philosophy at the
University of Hong Kong, the book contains many references to western philoso‑
phers’ musings on democracy and its various related concepts. At first glance, read‑
ers might find the book rather normative, as the author strives to argue for a demo‑
cratic necessity, as well as the preparation for it, in China. But Ci explains that his
ultimate goal is not to make a normative argument but rather a prudential one to
highlight that China has no choice but to prepare itself for democracy.
Ci’s argument is at loggerheads with a rising body of the literature, written by
various China observers and political scientists in recent years, defending the focus
of the Chinese way of development on meritocracy, rather than on a western form
of liberal democracy. Meritocracy is deeply rooted in traditional Confucian values.
Western scholars, such as Bell (2015), and Chinese scholars, such as Zhang (2012),
have unabashedly suggested that meritocracy has worked well to ensure the perfor‑
mance legitimacy of the ruling CCP and, thus, provides a viable alternative to west‑
ern democracy. Hence, the chances of China transforming itself into a democracy
are low.
For centuries, whichever regime was in charge of Confucian China drew greatly
upon an unknown natural legitimacy “from heaven” to justify its existence. Mao’s
China, and the CCP thereafter, initially drew upon a revolutionary aura to legitimise
its existence. As both heavenly legitimacy and revolutionary legitimacy run thin in
contemporary China, the reliance on performance legitimacy has become crucial
* Yu‑Wen Chen
julie.chen@helsinki.fi
1 University ofHelsinki, Helsinki, Finland
2 Palacky University, Olomouc, CzechRepublic
Y.-W.Chen
to the CCP’s rule. Ci differs from the aforementioned scholars by arguing that the
CCP’s (over‑) reliance on performance legitimacy poses a threat to the party’s ruling
legitimacy. As any China expert knows, the Chinese party‑state has made sure that
whenever we talk about the economy in China, we talk about politics. The economy
is predominantly steered by political orders from above, despite the fact that local
governments and actors also share some diluted power in policy implementation.
However, when the Chinese economy does not fare well—and this will likely hap‑
pen in the coming decade—Ci believes that the CCP will need to develop a new,
more solid form of legitimacy for the party to sustain itself.
In Ci’s view, the China of today is already more prepared to embrace democ‑
racy than the China of the past. The reason for this is the higher quality of life
and advancement of various socioeconomic conditions that have elevated people
to enjoy a much more equal condition for development than before. Chinese soci‑
ety is vibrantly developing conditions that can already be considered facets of a
democratic society. Ci calls such social conditions “substantive populism”, which
makes democracy a partial reality in China. In time, this partial reality will become
a complete reality. Although there are currently few proper democratic procedures
at the political level, societal democracy will eventually sow the seeds for political
democracy.
Ci recognises that present‑day China, under Xi Jinping’s rule, is suppressed in
various domains. However, he argues that the more the regime suppresses Chinese
society, the more one can conclude that it is indeed a democracy. The main challenge
for the CCP now is to stop denying the existence of political democracy. Ci points
out that there is already a mention of the term democracy in the party’s core values,
regardless of the fact that the term has a different meaning to the same term used
in the west. It is true that even the Chinese Constitution mentions the “democratic
dictatorship” of the party. However, this term in practice means dictatorship and has
nothing to do with western notions of democracy. Ci contends that even if the term
is mistakenly used in various CCP documents, it shows that the party understands
that it cannot legitimise itself without using the term democracy. Ultimately, in Ci’s
vision, the CCP will need to take a bold decision to consider prudent and gradual
democratic reform in order to maintain its legitimacy. Hence, Ci’s understanding
of the coming of democracy is formed by his view that Chinese society presents a
fertile ground for it. The key is that people in the upper echelons of the CCP will
have to accept the fact that it is better to start democratic reform than not to. Differ‑
ing from some popular political observers’ predictions that democracy might split
China and cause instability, Ci’s prudent arguments support a democratic China that
is capable of keeping the country unified and stable and maintaining its sovereignty.
This book might not be the book of choice for many empirically based politi‑
cal scientists because a lot of the ideas proposed by the author are not supported
by solid empirical data. For instance, even though Chinese society is vibrant and
diverse, the claim that it is already a societal democracy counters many empiri‑
cal observations. However, Harvard University Press has been bold to support this
book because, in my opinion, there is a need to think beyond what currently appears
sensible to China watchers and imagine a scenario where China will democratise,
not in a chaotic manner (which many have predicted) but in a prudent, mature and
An unconventional butprudent proposal forChina’s…
prosperous way. This book provides the most sophisticated arguments and scenarios
in support of that day happening.
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References
Bell, D. 2015. The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy. Princeton: Prince‑
ton University Press.
Zhang, W. 2012. The China Wave: Rise of a Civilizational State. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published
maps and institutional affiliations.
Yu-Wen Chen is Professor of Chinese Studies at the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki
and Hosting Professor at the Department of Asian Studies at Palacky University in Czech Republic.