Democracy is a good thing - An Interview with Yu Keping

Author: Yan Jian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: Governance – Good Governance is both a real political practice and a macro theory reflecting political reality, as well as a means of analyzing political reality. As a new political analytical framework, compared to other traditional political analysis methods, the governance and good governance approach has its own distinct advantages. First, it provides new analytical perspectives and categories; second, when analyzing political development, it is more comprehensive than other methods; third, it reflects the direction of development. When using the governance and good governance approach to analyze the political development of a place or a country, the main focus is on its governance environment, such as the political environment, legal environment, economic environment, cultural and psychological environment; the structure of governance, such as the roles of government institutions, political parties, other political organizations, civil organizations, the role of other governance structures, and the relationships between various governance institutions; the process or procedures of governance, such as decision-making processes, election processes, administrative processes, supervision processes, litigation processes, and participation processes; the methods of governance, such as administrative orders, political mobilization, legal coercion, persuasion and education, political education, economic incentives, freedom, cooperation, violence, the content of governance; the governors and the governed; the significance of governance, including the main variables affecting governance, the dynamics of democratic governance, the evaluation of governance, governance and local democracy, governance and economic development, and governance and social stability.
Democracy is a good thing, not just for a few individuals, nor just for some officials; it is for the entire nation and people. For officials who prioritize their own interests, democracy is not only not a good thing but also a nuisance, and even a bad thing. Therefore, democratic politics will not operate on its own; it requires the people and government officials who represent the people's interests to drive and practice it.
Democracy is a good thing, but that does not mean democracy is perfect. It is far from flawless and has many inherent shortcomings. However, among all political systems invented and implemented by humans so far, democracy is one of the least flawed. In other words, relatively speaking, democracy is the best political system humans have ever devised. As a famous statesman once said, democracy is a relatively bad political system. The interviews collected in this book broadly cover the author's main research areas and reflect the author's representative theories on some important issues. Since these are interview articles, the primary audience is not professional scholars but general readers, so academic norms are not emphasized as much, with a focus on making the content clear and easy to understand. The author touches on some issues without providing full arguments.
[Editor's Recommendation] Governance – Good Governance is both a real political practice and a macro theory reflecting political reality, as well as a means of analyzing political reality. As a new political analytical framework, compared to other traditional political analysis methods, the governance and good governance approach has its own distinct advantages. First, it provides new analytical perspectives and categories; second, when analyzing political development, it is more comprehensive than other methods; third, it reflects the direction of development. When using the governance and good governance approach to analyze the political development of a place or a country, the main focus is on its governance environment, such as the political environment, legal environment, economic environment, cultural and psychological environment; the structure of governance, such as the roles of government institutions, political parties, other political organizations, civil organizations, the role of other governance structures, and the relationships between various governance institutions; the process or procedures of governance, such as decision-making processes, election processes, administrative processes, supervision processes, litigation processes, and participation processes; the methods of governance, such as administrative orders, political mobilization, legal coercion, persuasion and education, political education, economic incentives, freedom, cooperation, violence, the content of governance; the governors and the governed; the significance of governance, including the main variables affecting governance, the dynamics of democratic governance, the evaluation of governance, governance and local democracy, governance and economic development, and governance and social stability.